Nottingham Forest have been linked with a move for Houssem Aouar this summer, and now a reliable source has given an update on the club's pursuit of the player.

What's the latest?

According to Sky Sports Italy (via Sky Sports News), Nottingham Forest are close to completing a deal for the Olympique Lyonnais midfielder.

As per the report, the newly-promoted side could complete the signing of the Frenchman due to a collapse in a deal for the player to move to Real Betis and he currently only has 12 months left on his contract.

It could the club's 16th signing of a very busy summer window.

It would be a big coup

The signing of Aouar would be without a doubt a major coup for Steve Cooper in the final weeks of the summer transfer window and would be a big statement of intent on making his former Championship side a team that is ready to compete and establish themselves as a Premier League club again.

Aouar is a talented midfielder who has been linked with moves to both Liverpool and Arsenal over the last few months so if Forest can pull off the deal over the coming days, it would be quite the addition for a side who have only just embarked on their journey at the country's top table.

It is not a surprise he has been linked with some of Europe's elite clubs with the 24-year-old France international being compared among the likes of Bernardo Silva, Nicolo Barella and Kevin De Bruyne by FBref.

That fact is no shock when you look more closely at the midfielder's attributes. Aouar ranked in the top 1% for pass completion compared to positional peers in the top five European leagues, and also ranked in the top 15% for tackles and dribble completion.

Over 36 Ligue 1 appearances last season, the Lyon star scored was emphatic in the final third, scoring six goals, delivering four assists, creating eight big chances, making 1.1 key passes and taking 2.1 shots on goal per game.

He has a wonderful all-round style to his game, successfully completing 54% of his dribble attempts and making 1.3 tackles a match, proving that he could be a valuable asset for Cooper in midfield.

Forest have already signed Orel Mangala, Remo Frueler, Cheikhou Kouyate and Lewis O'Brien this summer, so it will be interesting to see where Aouar fits into the squad, especially after the side were victorious yesterday against West Ham United with a 1-0 win.

Despite that, if the powers at The City Ground can get a good deal for Aouar over the line it would be a great piece of business. There is no question that the player has outstanding qualities he can bring to the Forest team, and to land a man targeted recently by Liverpool would be a seismic coup.