Nuno Espírito Santo has made Douglas Luiz the top target for Nottingham Forest’s midfield, but the club also have a back-up plan in mind.
Luiz was left out of Juventus’ first pre-season game as talk of his return to the Premier League has intensified, with Forest looking to be ahead of the chasing pack as it stands.
The interest has been long-standing, but Espírito Santo has now personally requested Luiz as his preferred target, an understandable choice given his track record of success in English football with Aston Villa.
However, plenty of other sides have been tracking the Brazilian so to avoid a scenario where the Reds are left with no options, Edu has reportedly been working on a back-up plan.
Douglas Luiz during the Serie A clash between Juventus and Udinese
Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images
Nottingham Forest return to Serie A for Douglas Luiz back-up
Everton are one club that is actively involved in the Luiz race, while Manchester United have also been credited as showing interest in the Brazilian who has endured a surprisingly difficult spell in Italy.
Zero goals or assists in 27 appearances was not expected after a tremendous season at Aston Villa so there’s reason to think that season was just a blip. If Forest are to miss out, though, Italian journalist Luca Bianchin has claimed that they will push ahead with a move for AC Milan’s Yunus Musah.
Il Nottingham Forest fa sul serio per Yunus Musah.
L'interesse del Forest, nato qualche settimana fa, è più concreto che mai: ci sono stati contatti anche nei giorni scorsi ed è possibile che si arrivi presto a un'offerta per il Milan. pic.twitter.com/LYtnbU1VoL
— luca bianchin (@lucabianchin7) August 1, 2025
View Tweet
His tweet stated that Forest remain serious in their interest in Musah, with talk of an offer to be potentially submitted after contact between the clubs in recent days.
MORE FOREST STORIES
Forest showed interest in Musah back in June so the link isn’t out of the blue, but talk of any interest in the 22-year-old American had seemingly died down.
It seems as if Luiz will remain the priority, but if Musah is to be turned to, the US international would offer an interesting alternative to the Brazilian.
Yunus Musah is more versatile than Douglas Luiz
As Espírito Santo plans to tweak his tactics this season, versatility is an attribute that could be of use in the inevitable teething stages of a new set-up.
Luiz is your traditional midfield orchestrator who is solid defensively but excels with the ball at his feet to create and even score himself, meaning that he would be locked in for a central midfield role.
Musah, on the other hand, has more strings to his bow, and while he may not be as polished as the Brazilian, he does hold some key advantages.
At Milan, Musah has operated down the right side on numerous occasions, both as a winger and even as emergency cover at right-back, which Forest could certainly do with.
It’s his pace and energy that stand out over Luiz so if the Reds are to be beaten to the Juventus man’s signature, expect a more all-action midfielder if Musah is picked as the alternative.