Nottingham Forest are reportedly close to signing El Arabi Hillel Soudani.
According to a report by Algerian publication La Buteur, Dinamo Zagreb striker El Arabi Hillel Soudani is to travel to England to take a medical on Friday with Nottingham Forest ahead of a switch to the City Ground.
The experienced striker is said to have already held talks with the east Midlands club over a £2.6 million deal (Nottingham Post), and it now appears completion of a transfer is extremely close and could be wrapped up this week.
Forest have already significantly bolstered their squad this summer with the arrivals of Michael Dawson, Tobias Figueiredo, Gil Dias, Diogo Goncalves and Joao Carvalho – the latter for a club record transfer fee.
It seems the Reds are intent on making a real push for promotion this coming season, and boss Aitor Karanka evidently hasn’t finished moulding his squad yet with the Spaniard keen on more arrivals.
So far Forest have brought in young players with huge potential, adding to what already was a young squad as the likes of Ben Osborn, Ben Brereton, Matty Cash and Joe Worrall all featured heavily last term.
Karanka arguably needs to bring in some established players to complement his young guns, and in Soudani they have a potential player who is absolutely ideal in helping lead their promotion charge.
The 30-year-old is already at the top of his game, having netted 18 times for Zagreb last term as the Croatian giants won the league title with Soudani picking up the golden boot and player of the year awards.
The 41-capped Algeria international knows where the net is, having scored over 150 goals in all competitions throughout his career including an impressive 21 times for the national team.
Forest aren’t shy on spending this summer, therefore it’s evident they will target a quick promotion. In Soudani, they will have a player who is already at the required level, capable of scoring 20+ Championship goals.
For a number of teams who don’t have the backing as Forest do, signing players with potential and building for a couple of seasons first makes sense both from a financial and sporting perspective.
But Forest are in a position to challenge right away and buying established players now will seemingly feel like adding the final pieces to the jigsaw in helping them get over the line.
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