World Cup winner who agreed terms with Forest to officially snub them today

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Nottingham Forest are set to officially miss out on Djibril Sidibe today with the former Everton defender and FIFA World Cup champion to sign for Greek side AEK Athens.

According to L’Equipe, the 30-year-old right-back flew out to Greece last night to complete a medical ahead of a move to AEK, with Sidibe being released by AS Monaco at the end of last season as the defender ended a six-year spell with the Ligue 1 giants.

Forest were interested in signing Sidibe to follow up the free agent arrival of Serge Aurier and had even reportedly agreed terms with the fullback, however, Steve Cooper’s side have now been beaten out by AEK, who are on the verge of signing the defender on a two-year contract later today.

Sidibe was part of France’s World Cup-winning squad in 2018 where Les Bleus beat Croatia 4-2 in an epic final, though the defender himself only played one game throughout the entire competition as Benjamin Pavard was preferred as Didier Deschamps’ starting right-back for the tournament.

Indeed, Forest were looking to add Sidibe to their squad following this week’s arrival of Aurier, with the former Tottenham star a free agent as well as Cooper looked to improve his wide options after a rough start to the Premier League season for the newly-promoted side.

However, Aurier looks set to be Forest’s last signing until the January transfer window with Sidibe set to sign for AEK later today, yet for Cooper and company, missing out on the experienced defender might be a blessing in disguise given how many right-backs the City Ground side have brought in this summer.

Sidibe was right to snub Nottingham Forest to sign for AEK Athens

Given Forest’s manic summer transfer window and the low odds that the Garibaldi even stay up in the Premier League this season, it makes sense why a player like Sidibe would snub a return to England when a move to Athens seems a lot more appealing for the 30-year-old fullback.

After all, AEK are one of the biggest clubs in Greece and could return to European football next season if they performance this campaign, and for Sidibe, this is a much more appealing project than playing for Forest, who could well get relegated this year if Cooper is not cautious and ready to make his new squad work.