Nottingham Forest flop now wanted by Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-German after meteoric rise..
Players come and go at clubs and Nottingham Forest is no different, but Reds fans will be shocked to hear about the interest shown in an ex-player who managed just seven minutes of Premier League football.
To the credit of Evangelos Marinakis, the majority of Forest’s signings this season have been a tremendous success with Nikola Milenkovic’s arrival from Fiorentina perhaps the pick of the bunch.
However, there have been one or two duds, namely Ramon Sosa who already looks set for an exit from the City Ground. Sosa has reportedly fallen out with Nuno Espirito Santo which would make his position at the club untenable, a slight shame for Reds fans who had been impressed with his rare cameos.
Sosa may not be playing regularly, but his 18 appearances for Forest absolutely dwarf the numbers of one former signing who is now being linked with some of Europe’s elite sides.
Photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Nottingham Forest flop Andrey Santos wanted by European elites
Arriving on loan from Chelsea, Andrey Santos wasn’t in Steve Cooper’s plans seemingly immediately after setting foot inside the Forest training ground, making the deal bizarre from the off.
In fact, Cooper didn’t know Forest had signed Santos until he showed up to training, which is a remarkable story that has made the Brazilian’s trajectory ever since a source of interest for Reds fans.
According to Calciomercato, Santos is hot property after his excellent season at Strasbourg, attracting the interest of Italian sides Juventus and AC Milan, as well as Champions League quarter-finalists PSG and Bayern Munich.
The report suggests that Chelsea intend to keep hold of Santos but should he become available, an asking price of around £33 million has been mooted.
Given how well he has performed for Strasbourg and the fact that he’s only 20 years old, it’s clear to see what he could offer to these European giants. He is also excelling in an area that none of the midfielders in the Forest squad can match.
Andrey Santos’ stats show a strength that Nottingham Forest lack
Cooper would praise Santos in training but this never translated to minutes on the pitch. It may seem entirely trivial at this moment in time as Forest have the likes of Ryan Yates and Elliot Anderson commanding the central areas, but both lack something that Santos excels at.
Statistic Andrey Santos at Strasbourg
Goals 10
Shots on target per 90 0.53
Duels won % 66.4%
Pass accuracy % 88.3%
Andrey Santos has an instinct for goals
Anderson has managed one goal in his Forest career thus far, whilst Yates has notched four times this season. Therefore, neither of the City Ground’s premier midfielders can match the numbers that Santos is providing in front of goal.
Of the two, Anderson has more scope to attack but only manages 0.22 shots on target per 90, much lower than Santos who also bests the Forest man in duels won and pass accuracy, indicating he is a more well-rounded midfielder.
To be clear, Anderson has been superb for Forest but it is interesting to look at what Santos has become after being seemingly written off in his brief spell in Nottingham.
About The Author
