NOTTINGHAM FOREST have seen off competition from Manchester United, Arsenal and Barcelona to land Brazilian wonderkid Danilo.
Steve Cooper is on the brink of pulling off an £18million coup to sign the 21-year-old Palmeiras defensive midfielder, who underwent a medical yesterday.
The move will see Danilo team up with his former Palmeiras teammate, and new Forest fans’ favourite, Gustavo Scarpa at the City Ground.
He will become Forest’s 24th signing since they gained promotion to the Premier League in the summer.
The youngster has attracted interest from Europe’s big hitters since he inspired Palmeiras to win back-to-back Copa Libertadores titles in 2020 and 2021.
Forest will now turn their attention to trying to pull off their biggest statement signing of all, Roma’s Italian international forward Nicolo Zaniolo.
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The 23-year-old has struggled at Jose Mourinho’s Europa Conference League winners lately, following an injury hit season.
But Cooper is hopeful he can beat Spurs boss Antonio Conte to land the hugely talented former Inter Milan frontman, who has 11 caps for Italy and would cost around £27m.
The attacker arrived from Inter in 2018 and has gone on to make almost 100 Serie A appearances since.
However, his status with Mourinho’s side is under huge scrutiny after he was recently jeered by his own supporters.
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Fans turned on the Italian international during the 1-0 Coppa Italia victory over Genoa on Thursday.
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Zaniolo is under contract at the Stadio Olimpico until 2024.
Talks have already taken place over an extension, but there has been “no progress” during the negotiations.
And his performances and general attitude of late has allegedly “irritated” Roma’s top brass.
He was originally valued at around £44m by Roma, but with his contract dwindling, that is said to have dropped significantly.
Zaniolo, whose goal clinched the Europa Conference League crown last season, has scored two and provided three assists in his 17 appearances this term.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
