Nottingham Forest reportedly had a seven-figure offer for promising defender Oumar Gonzalez turned down in January, by the player’s French club.
The 22-year-old plays for Ligue 2 side Chambly and is said to be the subject of plenty of interest.
Le Parisien claim the Reds made a bid for him in the winter transfer window, and the team’s president says the Cameroonian has a string of admirers.
“We had offers from an Italian Serie A club and Turkish and Dutch D1 clubs,” Chambly president Fulvio Luzi at the time.
“But the biggest offer was sent to us by a Championship club. It was a seven-digit offer!
“We refused it.
“On the other hand, I think that it will be difficult to retain him next summer because we will have other offers for him if he has a second part of the season as good as the first.”
Gonzalez is under contract until June 2021 and is currently recovering from shoulder surgery, which he says will take three months to recover from.
Nevertheless, teams have continued to make clear they are keen on his signature.
“Several English clubs are interested, including one in the race for the rise to the Premier League,” said Luzi.
“We will study the offer, we will discuss it with Oumar. For the moment, these are just contacts.”
Le Parisien say the centre-back was made aware of Forest’s bid in January, and Gonzalez has expressed a desire to play in England.
“When you are a professional footballer you do not know what tomorrow is made of,” he said.
“It is true that England is a championship that I really appreciate, it’s a bit my style in duels and contacts.
“It’s one of my dreams to play there. But I am under contract with Chambly.”
“He has the game to play there (in English football),” Luzi said. “For the moment, he is a player with FC Chambly, and he was a starting player. We are counting on him.”
