Nottingham Forest have qualified for European football for the first time in 30 years with a seventh-place finish in the Premier League during 2024/25.
The Reds looked on course for the Champions League for a period of time but ran out of steam at the crucial moment, allowing their rivals to take the coveted spots.
Still, the UEFA Conference League provides Forest with a great opportunity to taste European action, and the team will be strengthened accordingly.
Igor Jesus is signing for Forest, with the club set to bolster their attacking ranks ahead of a first foray into Europe for three decades.
The Reds have eyed the Brazilian talisman for a while, with Jesus rejecting Forest in January, along with Arsenal, who tried to take the player on loan.
With the 24-year-old set to check in, we spoke to a Brazilian football expert who gave us the lowdown on the striker set to bolster the Forest ranks.
Photo by Daniel Castelo Branco/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Photo by Daniel Castelo Branco/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Expert shares how Igor Jesus will differ to Chris Wood at Nottingham Forest
When you’ve just scored 20 Premier League goals, it’s hard to imagine losing your place, but Wood will definitely have competition for his place next season should Jesus sign.
It would appear that the Botafogo performer will provide something different to the Forest team and that should allow the Reds to mix things up a little bit more often next season.
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Filipe Guedes, who writes for Brazilian football website Vamo Futebol, is excited to see how Jesus gets on with Forest next season.
He exclusively told Nottingham Forest News: “Igor Jesus is the most exciting of the three.
“He has a completely different profile to Wood, he is still strong in aerial duels, though, and he could be a way to change the game style of Nottingham Forest.
“He’s more complete than Wood as a ball-playing striker and isn’t just a goalscorer. He plays outside the box and can help facilitate Forest in their build-up play.”
Jesus fits the Forest profile perfectly
It’s interesting that the expert we spoke to doesn’t think he’s just about scoring goals, because his goalscoring stats don’t jump off the page.
But, at 24, there is bags of time for him to develop and he should get plenty of chances to star in the Forest team given that four competitions will be on the fixture list next season.
Jesus feels like a nice fit in terms of adding something different to Wood. The talismanic number 11 will start the campaign as the primary source of goals again, but at 33, he will need more periods of rest next season.
Hopefully, Jesus can enjoy a positive Club World Cup with Botafogo and then return fit and health,y ready to lead Forest in Europe next season.