Nottingham Forest have five days to trigger the release clause in Jhon Lucumi’s contract.
The Reds have been linked with the Bologna centre back for the last couple of weeks, with the Colombian now having some downtime after the World Cup.
While he does that speculation about his future continues with Forest, Internazionale and Juventus all linked with the 28-year-old who nearly joined Sunderland last summer.
The former Genk defender has entered the final year of his deal with Bologna, one that includes a €28million release clause.
However, that release clause expires on July 15 and after that anyone wanting to sign Lucumi would have to negotiate with Bologna, whose own bargaining position isn’t helped by the fact they have less than a year of control.
According to Tutto Sport Juventus have been trying to put together a deal that includes cash plus players but they remain a long way short of the €28m.
They point out that Forest have a good relationship with Bologna having completed the transfer that took Dan Ndoye to the City Ground last summer.
Lucumi was born in Cali, Colombia before moving to Belgium in 2018. After 137 appearances and a Belgian Cup win he joined Bologna, with whom he also won the Italian Cup.
He played in all five matches at the World Cup before Colombia were beaten on penalties by Ndoye’s Switzerland.
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Post says
As for Forest, they have Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic as their front-line centre backs, with Morato, Jair Cunha, Zach Abbott and Tyler Bindon all at various stages of readiness.
If Oliver Glasner looks to play with a back-three, as he did so successfully at Crystal Palace, it would be a surprise if he introduced Morato or Jair as a regular starter. It would be less surprising if he wanted to bring in a specialist.
That said Lucumi’s recent experience is in a back four at both domestic and international level but his impressive performances for both club and country – and fact he has only one year left on his contract – could make him a relatively good-value option.
The gamble is waiting for the release clause to lapse and then opening negotiations - but also risk a competitor paying the €28m before July 15.
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