Nottingham Forest encouraged to pursue summer transfer – club looking to reward player

Nottingham Forest have been encouraged by the return of midfielder Kodai Sano from NEC Nijmegen in the summer transfer window.

And that encouragement comes from the Dutch club's technical director, Carlos Aalbers. Soccer News covered his comments today.

There was considerable interest in Sano at the end of the January transfer window. Ajax launched the bid with a bid of €15m, which was rejected. Despite Sano indicating that he wanted to make the move.

Then Nottingham Forest entered the field. Sean Dyche's side reportedly blow Ajax out of the water With a bid of €20m. This was also rejected by NEC Nijmegen, who had no interest in selling.

They have financial backing behind the scenes, something that allowed them to decline club record sales. His decision to reject the bids has since been questioned.

But they are confident in their decision as they look to finish the season strong. They are currently in third place with 38 points, one point behind second-placed Feyenoord. His sixth-place finish in 2024 was his highest finish in 20 years.

Losing a key player like Sano was not a consideration, despite the financial rewards. However, Albers has invited Nottingham Forest and others to return in the summer.

“We managed it internally,” he said of the interest.

“I talk to Kodai first, then his management. After that, I tell the clubs that we will not accept any offers. They were nice, mind you, but they are very welcome in the summer. Right now, we are on a journey to do something great, and we want to finish it together.”

“Without a doubt, €20 million is a huge sum,” Soccer News said, linking him to De Gelderlander.

“The advantage is that we have Marcel Boeckhoorn. Without him, we could not have refused such a sum. We are still not on our feet. At the end of the transfer window, Boeckhoorn told us: even if they offer double, a transfer is not something we want.”

“It makes sense that Sano wants to make a move. Four clubs have made offers for him, including Premier League and Bundesliga clubs. We certainly want to work towards a good transfer for him, but the timing was not right.

“He is resilient and never backs down. A South American player in his position would probably have grabbed me by the throat and stopped coming to training. That's why we are going to offer Sano a top-tier transfer next summer.”