An update has emerged on Nottingham Forest and their pursuit of central midfielder Houssem Aouar in the summer transfer window...

What's the talk?

Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has claimed that the club are "very close" to sealing a deal for the France international and that talks are "ongoing" at this moment in time.

It remains to be seen how much money Forest are prepared to pay Lyon for his services, but they appear to be on the verge of agreeing a fee with the Ligue 1 outfit.

If this move goes ahead then Aouar will come in as Steve Cooper's 15th signing of the summer, assuming no other players arrive before that happens.

Imagine him & Jesse Lingard

Just imagine how exciting Forest's midfield could be with Aouar and Lingard linking up through the middle of the pitch to cause damage to the opposition this season.

The club brought the latter in on a free transfer from Manchester United and he is a proven performer in the Premier League who is capable of delivering goals and assists from a number 10 position.

He spent the second half of the 2020/21 campaign on loan to West Ham in the top-flight and caught the eye with a string of superb performances. The attacking midfielder racked up nine goals and four assists in 16 outings for the Hammers - creating 1.1 chances per match.

This shows that Lingard has the potential to make a big impact in the final third if he can find his form under Cooper's management and the club could be about to land a player who can help him to do just that.

Aouar is an attack-minded central midfielder who could line up behind the England international and use his quality to bring the former Red Devil into the game.

In the 2021/22 Ligue 1 campaign, the Frenchman scored six goals and set up four in 29 starts. The dynamo created eight 'big chances' for his teammates in that time, creating 1.1 chances per game, and this suggests that he has the quality to thread quality passes into the forward players.

This means that he could be the player tasked with playing the ball between the lines to find Lingard in the space that he needs to then work his magic in the final third, whether that is scoring or assisting goals.

Now, imagine both of them scoring and creating in the Premier League alongside each other for the rest of the 2022/23 campaign and beyond. It is an exciting prospect and one that will hopefully become reality soon.