Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion have FC St. Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj on their transfer agenda for the summer.
Both Nottingham Forest and Brighton could take advantage of his contract to either sign him for free or for a fee after this season.
The 30-year-old joined the Bundesliga side on a free transfer in 2021 and has been their No.1 since then.
He played 160 matches, keeping 44 clean sheets and conceded 200 goals. This includes six clean sheets and 45 goals conceded from 29 matches this season.
The stopper’s stats per game in the Bundesliga this season are as follows:
Goals conceded per game: 1.6
Penalties saved: 2/4
Saves per game: 3.6
Save percentage: 68.9%
Goals prevented: 7.68
His future could be away from the Bundesliga side, especially in case of relegation this season.
Nottingham Forest and Brighton chasing goalkeeper
The Bosnia and Herzegovina international has less than 18 months left on his contract.
Hamburger Abendblatt report there’s a clause that will allow him to leave for free after this season if FC St. Pauli drop to the second division. They are now 16th in the table [18 teams in Bundesliga], there points ahead of 17th placed VfL Wolfsburg.
Should the German club continue in the top flight, there’s still a chance for Nikola Vasilj to move elsewhere in the summer.
The window will be FC St. Pauli’s last chance to earn a fee. He’s already attracted interest from unnamed Bundesliga sides without making any concrete progress.
Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion are also options for the stopper. Fabian Hürzeler and Seagulls goalkeeping coach Marco Knoop know him first hand from their time at the German club.
At FC St. Pauli, Vasilj developed a good relationship with Knoop and played under Hürzeler and this may give Brighton an edge over Vítor Pereira’s side.
He will only join a club where he can be the No.1. Bart Verbruggen is the first choice at The Amex and at the start of the season, he was linked to Barcelona and Bayern Munich. At that time, he was happy with these links.
If Verbruggen were to leave, the door open for Vasilj to be the No.1 and if not, the latter may not consider the Seagulls.
Contract, value and agent info
Nikola Vasilj could leave for a fee for the first time in his career, previously switching on loans and free transfers. Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion would be in line for a reasonable deal in the next window.
The Bosnian has a contract until 2027, and Transfermarkt value him €4.5m, the highest so far in his career.
Soccerfriends Sportmanagement Gmbh are representing the stopper, who also manage Norwich City’s Jakov Medić.