Nottingham Forest soar into the race for “unstoppable” star who Chelsea want to sign

Nottingham Forest are looking to sign an “unstoppable” forward, having struggled in front of goal during the early stages of the season, but there will be competition from Premier League rivals Chelsea.

Chairman Evangelos Marinakis would have been hoping for big things from Oliver Glasner, considering the Austrian won three trophies during his time with Crystal Palace, but he has struggled to make a similar impact at the City Ground.

REUTERS/Tony O Brien

In fact, the Tricky Trees are sitting in 19th place, firmly inside the relegation zone, albeit at an early stage of the season, having amassed just five points from their opening seven matches, and Glasner’s side have looked particularly poor from an attacking point of view.

Forest are yet to score at home in the Premier League, and they have found the net on just five occasions in total, which is the lowest number of any side in the top flight.

As such, Glasner may need to add some more firepower to his forward line, and a Ligue 1 star, who has made a flying start to the campaign, has now emerged as a target.

Nottingham Forest enter race for Gessime Yassine

Reuters/Lee Smith

According to a report from TEAMtalk, Nottingham Forest are now interested in signing RSC Strasbourg star Gessime Yassine, whose primary position is right-winger, but it could be difficult to get a deal done, as Chelsea fully intend to sign him.

Clearly, the Blues have the advantage in the race for Yassine’s signature, as Strasbourg is their sister club, and he would be keen on making a move to Stamford Bridge eventually, but there is plenty of interest from rival Premier League clubs.

Newcastle United, Sunderland, Brentford, Everton and Forest have all been watching the 20-year-old, who has two goals and two assists to his name in seven Ligue 1 appearances for Strasbourg this season.

Scout Jacek Kulig was left particularly impressed by the forward’s all-round display against Lens back in August, and singled him out for high praise on X.

A versatile player, the Strasbourg starlet is also capable of playing on the left flank, but Forest have been using a 3-4-2-1 formation since Glasner’s arrival, which means they utilise wing-backs, rather than out-and-out wingers.

Consequently, Yassine, who has already collected nine caps for Morocco, may not be the most fitting of signings for the Tricky Trees, despite his promising performances in Ligue 1 this season.