Nottingham Forest are going to be looking to sign players this summer, with Igor Jesus seemingly set to sign for the club from Botafogo.
Forest are keen to add Jesus to their ranks, with Evangelos Marinakis very keen to land some more firepower to give the Reds more strength in depth going into next season.
European football will be on the cards for Forest during the 2024/25 campaign, and it’s vital that more quality is added to the squad, with some players likely to leave this summer.
Forest had Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi as the two centre forwards in their ranks last season, but some reinforcements will be necessary to improve the quality in that area of the pitch.
Photo by DANIEL RAMALHO/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by DANIEL RAMALHO/AFP via Getty Images
What Tim Vickery said about Igor Jesus in January amid Nottingham Forest links
If there is anyone who knows about Brazilian football, it’s Tim Vickery, with the journalist being the expert when it comes to all things football in South America.
Back in January, Jesus was linked with Forest, Arsenal and Brentford, with all three clubs trying – and failing – to bring the striker to the Premier League.
However, with Forest edging closer to the signing of Jesus, Vickery’s comments from January look very interesting indeed.
Vickery told Sky Sports News: “He’s with Botafogo, who won the Championship. A year ago, he was playing in the United Arab Emirates and, he wasn’t even a household name in his own home, but Botafogo’s scouting is so good, they waited until he was out of contract, brought him back to Brazil.
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“The owner of Botafogo is John Textor, who has a stake in Crystal Palace, and he was saying that Jesus will move to the Premier League.
“He’s described him as a perfect centre-forward. He’s strong, he’s mobile, and he really bullied Victor Reis, who has joined Manchester City. He can score with his feet, he’s good in the air, and he can put in a shift defensively as well.
“He’s a very, very impressive centre-forward is Igor Jesus.”
Nottingham Forest can thrive with Igor Jesus in the team
This could be a seriously good signing for Forest and at 25-years-old, he looks like the perfect type of player to eventually replace Wood in the Forest team.
Jesus has been courted by a number of Premier League clubs and it now seems as though the Reds are the club that will win the race to sign him.
Forest will get a glimpse of the player in action at the forthcoming Club World Cup and it will be fascinating to see how he gets on during that tournament.
Wood will still get plenty of football next season after his 20-goal haul but with four competitions on the table for the Reds in 2025/26, competition is vital for Forest and this signing could be a masterstroke.