Forest fell to a 3-0 defeat at bitter rivals Derby County on Sunday afternoon and it was evidently clear that Forest will need to add some new faces to the squad in the January transfer window.
The need for new additions is even greater due to the huge injury list at Nottingham Forest which saw vital players such as Henri Lansbury, Britt Assombalonga, Chris Cohen and Daniel Pinillos miss the East Midlands derby.
Portuguese striker linked with switch
Forest have recently been linked with a move for Vitoria Setubal striker Andre Claro.
The 25-year-old forward doesn’t have the worst record in regards to scoring goals throughout his career. He scored 24 goals in 62 appearances for Famalicao between 2010 and 2012. He then had a less successful spell at Arouca where he only scored 8 goals in 81 appearances. However, he has impressed at his latest club Vitoria Setubal where he has scored 14 goals in 34 appearances.
Sources in Portugal suggest that Forest manager Philippe Montanier sent out his scouts to watch the striker as he played the last 25 minutes for Setubal in a 2-0 win over Estoril on Friday evening.
The striker has only netted four times this season but could potentially be a welcome addition to Montanier’s squad.
Forest currently have Britt Assombalonga, Nicklas Bendtner, Apostolos Vellios and Matty Fryatt on their books. However, Assombalonga and Bendtner have had recent injury problems and Fryatt hasn’t been seen in a long time.
Forest fans may be concerned with a move for yet another player from abroad due to Forest’s lack of success in the foreign market in the past. Many fans would rather make a move for a proven Championship goal scorer such as Jordan Rhodes or take a gamble on a player scoring goals in the lower divisions such as Omar Bogle at Grimsby Town.
Scottish youngster Kyle McAllister linked with Reds
A second player to be linked with Forest in the last few days is winger Kyle McAllister from Scottish Championship club St Mirren.
Due to him only being 17-years-old, he is yet to make a significant number of appearances for St Mirren but when he has done he has impressed. This has led to a number of clubs keeping an eye on him and registering their interest including the likes of Sunderland, Aston Villa and Leicester City.
His most notable contribution for St Mirren was a superb solo goal during St Mirren’s 5-1 victory against Spartans in the Scottish Cup last month.
Forest could do with another player of McAllister’s quality going forward with the likes of Patjim Kasami and Mustapha Carayol failing to impress of late. His attacking flare may help create more chances.
As the January transfer window approaches ever nearer, there is likely to be an increase in transfer speculation linking a whole host of players to the Reds.