Nottingham Forest have reportedly made a major breakthrough in their bid to sign Moussa Niakhate.
The Reds had been in talks over a move for the centre-back, as head coach Steve Cooper looks to strengthen his defensive ranks. A fee upwards of £10m has been mooted, after a difference in valuation had been a stumbling block. However, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano says a fee has now been agreed and Nottinghamshire Live understands the player was already keen to come to the City Ground.
He said: "Nottingham Forest are getting closer to signing Moussa Niakhaté, deal at final stages. Agreement in principle with Mainz on the fee - some details to be sorted out.
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"Niakhaté, expected to become the next signing after Awoniyi, Dean Henderson and Giulian Biancone."
Forest have already concluded the signings Taiwo Awoniyi and Dean Henderson. Troyes defender Biancone is understood to be undergoing a medical of his move today. The 22-year-old will join for a reported fee of £5m.
Niakhate has been a key figure for Mainz, making 33 appearances and scoring four goals last season. With 12 months left on his contract, he was linked with Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham United earlier in the year.
Mainz manager Svensson says the Bundesliga outfit’s position “in the food chain” means they are always at risk of losing players who impress. And he adds they try to make sure they are prepared for losing the likes of team captain Niakhate.
"That's the downside of performing and performing well," he told Goal. "We know that we have clubs that have more money than us and will look at players that were doing well at Mainz because that's just natural.
"That's where we are in the food chain, so what we can do about it is we can prepare ourselves as well as possible, keep an eye out on players who could be interesting to replace Moussa or replace some of the other players just to strengthen our own team and be as well as prepared as we as we possibly can. It's too bad that we cannot go on with the same players year after year, but we're not the only team who have this challenge and it's also the normal way of things that you have to be able to adjust and think ahead, so we've been well prepared for things that would happen this summer."
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