Nottingham Forest are exploring a deal for an Arsenal academy graduate, as the Tricky Trees prepare for European football.
Forest have been buoyed by UEFA's decision to uphold Crystal Palace's Europa League ban, with the Eagles' controversial demotion to the Conference League coming after the club failed to comply with multi-club ownership laws, involving minority owner John Textor and another of his clubs, Lyon.
The City Ground will now host Europa League football, as Forest were the next-placed team in the Premier League – and the East Midlanders are shaping their squad accordingly to deal with the upcoming campaign.
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Forest have been busy in the transfer market with former Arsenal Invincible Edu Gaspar using connections in Brazil to sign the likes of Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha from Botafogo, while highly-rated winger Dan Ndoye has joined from Bologna.
But Edu may well have used more intel from his Gunners days to offer a perspective on a Hale End academy graduate in talks with Forest.
Football Italia are reporting that the Garibaldi are still progressing on a move for Milan midfielder Yunus Musah, following the Athletic's Serie A expert James Horncastle revealing that talks had begun.
Musah left North London the summer that Edu arrived but the American international has been consistently linked with a return to the Emirates Stadium since – though FourFourTwo understands that Arsenal would not receive a significant sell-on fee from any potential transfer.
The 22-year-old was capped by England's youth teams before defecting to play for the United States – former Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate even lamented losing the talent to the USMNT – meaning that should he return to English football, he could qualify as a homegrown talent.
The Rossoneri are seeking a fee of around €30 million for the New York City-born star, with Forest in competition with Scudetto holders Napoli for his signature.
As a no.8 capable of playing on the wing, Musah is a good fit in two positions for Nuno Espirito Santo's 4-2-3-1 and could be a good pickup to add depth for a team competing in four competitions this season – but club-to-club agreement on price will likely be the definitive factor in any move getting done.
Transfermarkt values Musah to be worth around €20m.
