Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah close to £30m move to Nottingham Forest

Club’s admiration for the England international dates to his time on loan at Leeds United during 2019-20 season

Nottingham Forest are close to securing the £30 million signing of Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah after a breakthrough in talks.
Forest are on the brink of a significant coup after agreeing the framework of a deal with Arsenal to sign the England international.
Nketiah has been a top target as Forest pursue a new forward and negotiations have been complicated by the 25-year-old’s wages and contract length at the Emirates Stadium. There are still issues for Nketiah to sort with Arsenal before a deal can proceed.
Yet Forest’s owner Evangelos Marinakis has held extensive talks with Edu, Arsenal’s sporting director, over the past 48 hours and it is understood that a fee is close to being agreed.
Santiago Gimenez, the Feyenoord striker, has been another target for Forest but the transfer fee of around the £38 million mark has proved problematic.
Nketiah, meanwhile, has proven Premier League experience and has been a long-term target for Forest’s ownership.
In the 2020-21 season, Forest targeted Nketiah after he was recalled from his loan spell at Leeds before Arsenal decided to keep him for the remainder of the campaign.
Nuno Espirito Santo, Forest’s head coach, has been determined to add another forward to provide competition for Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi.
Nketiah’s move to the City Ground will end an association with Arsenal of over nine years. After joining the club’s academy in 2015, he made his first-team debut under Arsene Wenger two years later.
Forest are also close to signing Aston Villa’s left-back Alex Moreno on an initial season-long loan. Moreno turned Forest down two years ago but is set for a medical on Wednesday ahead of a move across the Midlands.
Forest are also working on transfer exits ahead of next week’s deadline. Joe Worrall, Matt Turner, Emmanuel Dennis and Josh Bowler could all leave either on loan or permanently. Worrall, the centre-back, is a target for Championship club Burnley.
Meanwhile, midfielder Danilo has undergone an operation on his ankle after sustaining the horror injury in the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.
Danilo is only expected to miss up to two months as the injury was a “clean break”.
Forest return to league action this weekend with a trip to Southampton, although Joe Worrall’s permanent move to Burnley will be confirmed tomorrow for £5 million.
Meanwhile, Arsenal youngster Charlie Patino is set to join Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna in a permanent move worth around £1 million.
Patino was one of the most highly rated academy players in the country, having captained England under-16s at the age of just 14, but he has been unable to establish himself in the Arsenal first team in recent years.
The 20-year-old has spent the past two seasons on loan in the Championship, first at Blackpool and then at Swansea City.