Deadline Day at Nottingham Forest

By Callum Castel-Nuovo

It has been a slow yet steady transfer window for Nottingham Forest so far, though it appears the pace is increasing as we reach the closing hours of deadline day. Jordan Gabriel has already made the permanent move to Blackpool today, whilst Harry Arter and Nuno Da Costa have found loan moves for the remainder of the season.

With Jordan Gabriel leaving the club and Jordi Osei-Tutu injured, Fin Back is left as the only available right-back at Forest. At just 18 years of age with limited experience, it is highly unlikely that Back will be the sole right-back at the club. Therefore, Paul Taylor at The Athletic has reported that Tunisian international Mohamed Drager of Olympiacos will be Gabriel's replacement.

Drager arriving from Olympiacos could frustrate fans as Miguel Angel Guerrero, Cafu, Tiago Silva, Hillal Soudani, Panagiotis Tachtsidis, Karim Ansarifard, Andreas Bouchalakis, Stefanos Kapino and Pajtim Kasami have all passed between Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos, with Evangelos Marinakis owning both clubs. With the arrival of CEO Dane Murphy this season, fans will have been hoping business between Forest and Olympiacos would slow down after various underwhelming moves between the two. However, Forest have gained a substantial fee from Jordan Gabriel that may push other moves over the line whilst receiving a right-back with European experience. Drager, 25, has also played in the Bundesliga and internationally for Tunisia, bringing worthy experience to the Championship.

Braian Ojeda is also set to arrive at Nottingham Forest on deadline day. Journalist Rudy Galetti claims that Forest and Olimpia have reached an agreement of just under £2m for the 21-year-old central midfielder. Ojeda worked his way through the Olimpia youth system in his home country to make 28 appearances for the senior team. After a loan spell with Defensa y Justicia in Argentina, it became clear that Ojeda had fallen out of place at Olimpia and now appears ready to start a new journey at Nottingham Forest. Ojeda will join James Garner, Ryan Yates, Jack Colback and Cafu in the battle of the midfield spot. However, similar to Garner, Ojeda will bring something different to that area compared to Yates, Colback and Cafu who are more defensive minded.

Finally, Loic Tanzi, of RMC Sport has reported that Nottingham Forest have had a bid of €4.5m (£3.9m) accepted for Bordeaux striker Josh Maja. The Nigeria international broke through at Sunderland AFC where he scored 16 goals in 41 appearances before rejecting a new contract. Maja then made the move to Ligue 1 with Bordeaux at 19-years of age, scoring 9 goals in 45 appearances. In January 2021, Maja spent the remainder of the 2020/21 season on loan at Fulham, scoring against Arsenal and bagging a brace against Everton in his time with the Cottagers. Forest have been keen to add a striker to the squad and with Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor being 33 and 31 respectively - a young, hungry striker with Premier League and Ligue 1 experience would be a very exciting prospect.

Here's what fans have to say about the potential moves..