Nottingham Forest have been involved in a transfer battle with Napoli already this summer, with Antonio Conte’s side now making concrete moves to beat the Reds to a midfield target.
Forest and the Serie A champions must be shopping in the same market this summer, as shown when Napoli made an offer to sign Dan Ndoye.
Unfortunately for Conte, though, Ndoye chose Forest over Napoli to show the pulling power of Premier League football despite Napoli having Champions League football to offer.
To exact their revenge, then, Conte’s side have officially made a bid to hijack Forest’s move for an extra midfield option.
Yunus Musah in action for AC Milan against Fiorentina
Photo by Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images
Napoli in bid to sign Nottingham Forest target Yunus Musah
With Forest’s move for Douglas Luiz looking difficult to pull off, Forest have been pushing to sign Yunus Musah from AC Milan to provide competition in midfield.
The versatile American can also cover at right midfield, too, but Napoli are also interested in Musah and have made the first significant move for the Milan star.
According to Gazzetta Dello Sport: “Napoli has returned to the fray for the AC Milan midfielder with an official offer of €22 million plus bonuses. Suddenly, after being close to signing Yunus in June and then abandoning him.”
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Previous reports have suggested that Milan are looking for £25m, so Napoli remain short in their offer, but it still represents a significant effort to not see a repeat of the Ndoye saga.
On Trentside, Forest are also interested in Mads Bidstrup so it remains to be seen whether they’ll actually rival Napoli for Musah. If they do, though, Conte’s side may have the advantage for two crucial reasons.
Why Napoli may have the advantage in the Yunus Musah chase
A central midfielder will arrive at the City Ground to cover the gap left by Danilo’s move to Botafogo, but the chances of that midfielder being Musah may be slim with Napoli and Conte in the picture.
The report continued: “Antonio Conte had placed [Musah] at the top of his summer wish list. He’s the physical midfielder Antonio would like to pit against Anguissa, and even replace him, not only for the rotation needed during the season, but especially during the long period during which Frank will be involved in the Africa Cup of Nations.”
Not only is Conte’s personal request making the deal difficult for Forest, but the report also claimed that Musah “would prefer to stay in Italy”, a claim that has been circulated throughout the summer.
Options such as Bidstrup may be the best bet for Forest, then, unless Evangelos Marinakis has something up his sleeve to beat Napoli to a transfer target once more.