Nottingham Forest are now heavily linked with Dilane Bakwa, with the Strasbourg winger garnering plenty of fans during his career.
Excitement rapidly grew as Forest made a bid for Bakwa worth around £24m, but the offer was rejected by Strasbourg as the French side look for closer to £30m.
Alongside Bakwa, the Reds have had a bid rejected for Omari Hutchinson, with Nottingham Forest News revealing that Ipswich want over £40m for Hutchinson.
This valuation may make Bakwa the ideal option out wide to provide an alternative to Callum Hudson-Odoi and Dan Ndoye. He’s not just a cost-friendly option, though, given how highly he has been regarded from a young age.
Dilane Bakwa applauds the Strasbourg fans
Photo by Sathire Kelpa/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Dilane Bakwa has impressed his teammates in France
Nuno Espírito Santo wanted five more signings after bringing in Ndoye, including wide options, largely due to the exit of Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva’s impending move to Sporting CP.
It’s not just a case of replacing these squad options, though, as Espírito Santo wants to improve his squad to give the Reds a chance to go deep in UEFA competition.
Bakwa fits this category from a statistical perspective but alongside this, his teammates have always been in awe of the 22-year-old’s ability.
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Speaking as part of a feature piece on Bakwa from So Foot, his former teammate at Bordeaux, Vital Nsimba, said: “He’s perhaps the most talented youngster I’ve played with, but what we’re seeing here isn’t even the real Dilane yet.
“He can still be much better. I think he’ll end up at a big European club if he continues to be serious. That’s a certainty.”
High praise from Nsimba, but when looking deeper at Bakwa’s stats from last season, it’s hard to look past a bright future for the Frenchman.
Dilane Bakwa has all the attributes to be an elite creative force
After Morgan Gibbs-White signed a new contract at Forest, Espírito Santo’s creative department looks to be in safe hands next season.
However, Reds fans want to see Gibbs-White score more goals, something that the addition of a creative gem like Bakwa could seriously aid.
Statistic Dilane Bakwa 24/25
Assists 8
Crosses per 90 5.51
Progressive passes per 90 4.65
Successful dribbles per 90 1.79
Bakwa provided eight assists for his Strasbourg teammates last season, with the underlying stats showing that he was a constant threat out wide.
The 5.51 crosses per 90 will certainly interest Chris Wood up front, while the solid number of progressive passes per game will help take the burden of creating off Gibbs-White’s shoulders.
Forest and Strasbourg don’t seem to be far apart in their valuations of Bakwa, so fans will be hoping to see Evangelos Marinakis step up and provide the extra funds to see the Frenchman arrive on Trentside.