2 weeks Ago By Dan Owen
Nottingham Forest’s pursuit of a striker looks set to end in frustration with the transfer deadline now only a few hours away. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have seen a £25 million bid rejected by Brentford for Yoane Wissa, HITC understands , while deals for Arsenal benchwarmer Eddie Nketiah and Eredivisie winner Santiago Gimenez also failed to materialise despite seeing a £28 million bid for the former accepted by Fenerbahce. Nottingham Forest hoped it would be a case of fourth time lucky with Omar Marmoush .
HITC reported on Thursday that the two-time European champions had entered advanced talks with the £33 million-rated Egypt international. Marmoush was also keen on the move. But, amid an outpouring of adoration from the Eintracht Frankfurt supporters desperate to see last season’s 17-goal top scorer stay at the Commerzbank Arena, Marmoush now appears to have pulled a dramatic late U-turn.
Nottingham Forest miss out on Omar Marmoush “I’m really looking forward to the season,” Marmoush says in quotes reported by Kicker . “The love that I’ve noticed in the last few days has touched me deeply.” The Cairo-born 25-year-old has also confirmed, via his X account, that he will be present and available for Saturday’s Bundesliga clash with Hoffenheim, by which point the summer window will be a thing of the past.
At our home for the first time this season tomorrow, the love I felt in the past days was incredible, lets make new memories together 🦅❤️ pic.twitter.com/qXjU26GqXA HITC have been told by sources at Nottingham Forest that Nuno’s side could not finalise terms with Marmoush.
Having also hit a brick wall in their respective pursuits of Wissa, Nketiah and Gimenez, Forest no longer expect a striker to arrive before the deadline, leaving Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi as the club’s leading centre-forward options. “We don’t give away players at any price,” explains Frankfurt’s sporting director Markus Krosche. “So it’s an important sign that Omar will also play for us next season.
” No new striker for Nuno Espirito Santo The good news for Nottingham Forest is that Wood and Awoniyi have proven themselves to be capable goalscorers if given the right service. Service which comes from Morgan Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga, plus summer recruits Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva. Awoniyi did miss a handful of presentable opportunities during Wednesday’s EFL Cup second-round defeat by Newcastle United, however, including a penalty which he skied into the River Trent during the shoot-out.
“(Awoniyi’s overall performance) was good,” former Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno told Sky Sports as Forest’s Carabao Cup campaign ended at the first hurdle. “In the end, it was clear he was lacking some energy but he worked very hard until the end. “He had two or three good chances to finish.
We want to give Taiwo this opportunity to raise his levels of fitness because the talent is there.” “You cannot ignore the (penalty) moment for all of us, especially for the player involved in that situation. But we are here to support him and we don’t have too much time for sorrow because we go again on Saturday.
” Forest face Wolverhampton Wanderers at the City Ground on Saturday..
