According to a report in The Sun, Newcastle United are looking to bring in Nottingham Forest central defender Joe Worrall.
What’s the word?
This is arguably the downside of success, you’re going to have people trying to take you apart.
Not only are Premier League sides reportedly looking at manager Sabri Lamouchi The Sun On Sunday [6/10, page 63], but it looks as if they’ve got eyes for their players as well – with Worrall attracting the interest of elsewhere.
The 22-year-old spent last season on loan at Rangers making 32 appearances, but has come back to the City Ground and formed a partnership with the more experienced Michael Dawson that has really gone down well with the fans.
Whilst there has been no mention of any possible fee, as noted by The Nottingham Post, if the Toon want to try and buy him, they may have to fork out quite a lot to entice Forest to accept given that his contract expires in the summer of 2022.
Big fee on the cards?
In addition, and this could be the biggest kicker in all of this, is that he is a Nottingham Forest fan through and through, so it would have to take something substantial to make him be willing to part from his boyhood club.
That being said, if Andy Carroll can leave Newcastle and Wayne Rooney can leave Everton, then it certainly wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for someone like Worrall to make the move if circumstances are right.
Only last summer we saw Adam Webster, a defender of a similar calibre, depart Bristol City for £20m. With that in mind, Forest would be within their rights to command a hefty price.
One final thing to add, whilst it might seem hard to separate the player from the club in the upcoming transfer window, there will always be the looming shadow of the summer window if Forest fail to get promoted.
So even though Sabri Lamouchi’s men have got off to an incredible start this season, with an unbeaten run of ten matches in the league, they may have to keep it up for the rest of the season and end up getting promoted if they have any chance of making sure the defender’s eyes don’t get turned.
