Nottingham Forest had reached an agreement on personal terms with Borussia Dortmund attacker Gio Reyna over a loan deal until the end of the season. The American, who, like Nuno, is represented by Jorge Mendes’ agency, wants to leave the Bundesliga club before the end of the January transfer window, and had already shaken hands over a move to the City Ground.
However, Forest, who wanted the option to buy Reyna at the end of the initial loan, are not the only interested party, and it’s now emerged that the relegation-threatened Premier League side are set to miss out on the USA international, as Ligue 1 outfit Marseille are in “advanced” talks with Dortmund for Reyna.
Forest deep in talks over Carlos Forbs
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Reds aren’t dwelling on the apparent Reyna hijack. Indeed, Forest are in advanced talks to sign Carlos Borges from Ajax. The player, who now prefers to be known as Carlos Forbs, could make a return to English football after his previous stint with Manchester City.
While he too plays on the wing, Romano clarifies that Nuno had wanted to sign both the 19 year-old and Reyna before the deadline, rather than one or the other. Negotiations are progressing well as Forest look to put together the kind of package that could persuade Ajax, and hopefully not miss out a second time.
“Crazy” Forbs showing promise in Ajax chaos
In the words of talent scout Jacek Kulig, Forbs put up some “crazy numbers” during his stint in the City academy. In his final season in Manchester (2022/23), he amassed a whopping 47 direct goal contributions in 33 appearances across all competitions, a rate of 1.4 every match. He finished as the Premier League 2 top scorer with 21 and, having placed for third assists (12), unsurprisingly led the way for goal involvements too (33).
Forbs had also been devastating at a lower level, scoring 23 times and providing 21 assists in 28 Under-18 Premier League appearances, and he handled the step-up with aplomb. He also enjoyed success at international level by making the under-19 Euros team of the tournament after Portugal finished as runners-up, but the big question was how he’d handle the step-up to the senior level.
The winger had initially looked set to join another Premier League side in West Ham, but then Ajax swooped in to hijack the deal. City hold a 20% sell-on clause, which could prompt the Amsterdam outfit to drive a particularly hard bargain.
Forbs has scored twice and set up four more in his first 25 appearances for Ajax, and while those numbers may not sound spectacular, context is important. He’s only played 1,119 mins, the equivalent of 12.4 full matches, and he’s also had to deal with the turmoil at the club, who sacked manager Maurice Steijn in October after disastrously dropping into the relegation places.
They’ve since recovered to fifth, but they’re still an enormous 21 points behind leaders PSV. In spite of that, Forbs managed to grab a goal and an assist on his Europa League debut against Marseille, and has been playing well recently with three goal involvements in his last six in the league. As long as Forest are patient, then they could have a gem on their hands.
