Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah now looks to be the favoured option for Nottingham Forest after they saw a bid rejected by Feyenoord for Santiago Gimenez.
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano as the transfer news expert spoke exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, providing a positive update for the Gunners as they look to make what could potentially be a really important sale.
Arsenal have spent big in recent times, bringing in the likes of Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber last summer, before adding David Raya (permanently, following his initial loan) and Riccardo Calafiori this year, with Mikel Merino to follow soon.
That means the north London giants could really do with balancing the books, and selling an academy player like Nketiah could be ideal as it will represent pure profit on a player they never had to spend a transfer fee on.
Nketiah had been a target for Marseille earlier this summer before that deal fell through, and it now looks like things are progressing well over a move to Forest.
Nketiah transfer: Nottingham Forest make Arsenal ace their top striker target
“The expectation remains for the Mikel Merino deal to happen, it’s just about working on the details of the deal, with Arsenal very relaxed and confident. As well as that, we could see some players leave Arsenal before the end of the window, such as Eddie Nketiah and Aaron Ramsdale,” Romano said.
“With Nketiah, we know Nottingham Forest are interested. However, Forest have also shown an interest in Santiago Gimenez – their bid has been rejected by Feyenoord, €26m plus add-ons was still not enough.
“Forest have advanced in talks with Arsenal and also with Nketiah as he’s accepted the proposal on contract. Forest remain attentive to Gimenez situation but as of last night, Nketiah is the favourite striker option for them.”