Dan Ndoye’s agent, Lodovico Spinosi, has explained how Nottingham Forest signed him ahead of Italian champions Napoli.
[Il Napolista](https://www.ilnapolista.it/2025/09/ndoye-lintermediario-il-napoli-ha-voluto-chiudere-prima-per-lang-beukema-e-lucca/) cover comments from the Nottingham Forest forward’s agent today, made in an interview with Radio Crc, about his client this summer.
Ndoye joined Nuno Espirito Santo’s side earlier in the summer in a €42m move from Bologna as a replacement for Antony Elanga.
The move came after he had impressed in Italy with Bologna, where he managed 11 goals and eight assists in 75 games after joining from Basel in 2023.
He had earned plenty of admirers with his performances for them, including Italian champions Napoli, who first tried in the January transfer window and revived that again this summer.
They couldn’t get a deal over the line, though, providing Nottingham Forest with an open opportunity to get their man. And Spinosi explains that it was their money which was a deciding factor.
“Manna (Napoli sporting director) tried to sign him in January, and at that historic moment, Nottingham Forest didn’t yet exist,” he said.
“After that, there was another opportunity this summer, but the process took too long, and in the end, when a financially high-level club like the English club presents itself, everything suddenly changes.
“Napoli completed the deals for Noa Lang, Beukema, and Lucca first. I understand the difficulties the club faced, but something different could have been done to bring the player to Naples.
“The timing is certainly questionable. If negotiations with Napoli had begun twenty days or a month earlier, it could have ended differently.”
The focus is now on establishing himself in England and filling the hole left behind by Elanga’s decision to move to Newcastle United.
It’s been a flying start in that regard, with a goal and an assist in three Premier League games so far and plenty of plaudits for his performances.
He appears to have settled into Nottingham Forest well and his agent is confident he’ll continue to impress in future.
“He’s adapting to a different league, superior to ours,” he added.
“It’s a shame for the Italian league to have lost a player like him, but those are the laws of the market, and when a player like him excels, he goes straight to the market.
“Today, Ndoye is at a top club in the world’s top league. Nottingham Forest is a serious club that has invested heavily to compete. After a year of settling in, the player has exploded in Italy, and I’m sure he’ll do well in England too.”