Nottingham Forest are said to be on the verge of signing Michael Dawson from Hull City.
According to the latest reports in the Daily Mail, Nottingham Forest hope to finalise the signing of Hull City defender Michael Dawson on a free transfer within the next 24 hours.
The 34-year-old is making a long-awaited return to the City Ground having came through the Forest academy, yet his impending arrival raises question marks over the future of fellow centre-back Michael Mancienne.
Mancienne began last season as one of Forest’s leading players, captaining Mark Warburton’s first game in charge as the Reds defeated eventual playoff challengers Millwall 1-0 at the City Ground.
But the arrival of Aitor Karanka as Warburton’s successor last January prompted several changes to the first-team eleven, with Mancienne featuring sporadically towards the end of the campaign.
The 30-year-old started a total of 27 Championship games but featured in only five games after the January transfer window closed with Karanka bolstering his squad with seven new arrivals on deadline day.
Dawson’s impending arrival will see Forest have plenty of options at centre-back as Joe Worrall, Tobias Figueiredo and the versatile Daniel Fox also bid for regular playing time.
The 34-year-old former Forest academy product featured 40 times for Hull last season, so it’s expected he is arriving at the City Ground as a likely regular first-teamer rather than a mere squad player.
Mancienne doesn’t seem to be among Karanka’s first choice options, and with his contract expiring in the summer of 2019, the East Midlands club may be better off trying to cash in on him now.
With plenty of Championship experience the former Chelsea man wouldn’t be short of options, and selling him now could create space on the wage bill, adding more leeway when looking to strengthen Forest’s attacking options.
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