Forest close in on £15m Maupay in spending frenzy

NOTTINGHAM FOREST are close to signing striker Neal Maupay from Brighton on a four-year deal.

Forest have offered around £10million with a further £5m in add-ons for the 25-year-old. Brighton left him out of yesterday’s home draw with Newcastle.

The move for Maupay follows the proposed triple signing of Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis, Atalanta midfielder Remo Freuler and free agent Cheikhou Kouyate. All three were undergoing medicals yesterday. Dennis, 24, will cost £12.75m plus £7.5m in add-ons, while Freuler, 30, will cost £7.6m.

Forest manager Steve Cooper, whose side take on West Ham in their first top-flight home game in 23 years today, says his club philosophy will be that you have to understand the past to ensure a bright future.

He sees himself as standing on the shoulders of those who brought the glory days to the club under Brian Clough over four decades ago.

Asked whether the hand of Forest’s history is on his shoulder, Cooper replied: ‘It’s never been on my shoulder — we will always stand on their shoulders.

‘I’ve enjoyed getting to meet people like John McGovern, Garry Birtles and Frank Clark who are regular faces here, and rightly so.

‘When promotion was becoming a reality, the feeling I got was, “That’d be good”. But now, we have to live up to that.

‘Forest have a great history, which is nothing to do with me. Now we’re back and I just want us to be a good version of ourselves.

‘But I’m open about saying that we’re nowhere near finished with players coming in or going.’

Forest also hope to sign another left-back, with Chelsea’s Emerson Palmieri and Rangers’ Borna Barisic their latest targets.