Nottingham Forest are on course to make their first signing of the transfer window.
If all goes to plan, free agent midfielder Xaver Schlager will put to pen to paper for the Reds. As well as becoming the club’s first arrival of the summer, he will be the first of the Oliver Glasner era at the City Ground.
Schlager will sign a two-year deal with the option of extending his stay for a further 12 months beyond that, according to The Athletic. He is said to have rejected interest from elsewhere in favour of a move to the banks of the Trent.
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The 28-year-old left RB Leipzig at the end of last season after opting not to sign a new contract. A number of top clubs across Europe were all eyeing him up.
The pull of working for Glasner again seems to have counted in the Reds’ favour. Schlager worked with his fellow Austrian earlier in his career, at Wolfsburg.
Schlager played a key role for his country at the World Cup as they made it to the last 32 of the tournament. He came up through the ranks at RB Salzburg before leaving for Wolfsburg in 2019 and then heading to Leipzig three years later.
Strengthening in the middle of the park has been top of Forest’s agenda this summer. The departure of Elliot Anderson to Manchester City in a British record £116 million move left a big void to be filled.
Schlager should link up with his new teammates in time for next week’s visit to Portugal for a warm-weather training camp. The 12-day trip will provide Glasner and his squad with valuable time together ahead of the new campaign.
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Confirmation of Glasner’s appointment as head coach came last week. The former Crystal Palace manager replaced Vitor Pereira at the helm and will be hoping for a repeat of the success he oversaw at Selhurst Park.
Further signings for the Reds are expected before the window closes on September 1. The squad requires only minor tweaking but bolstering Glasner’s resources at full-back and centre-back will be on the club’s to-do list, while a goalkeeper may also be sought.
Schlager will add to a midfield department made up of Ibrahim Sangare, Nicolas Dominguez and Ryan Yates. Forest have been linked with the likes of Lucas Bergvall, of Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic’s Arne Engels and Inter Milan’s Davide Frattesi in their search for midfield reinforcements.
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