Nottingham Forest are reportedly interested in a deal to sign Sheffield Wednesday full-back Liam Palmer, according to The Sun on Sunday (8th August, page 67).
What’s the story?
Nottingham Forest finished 17th in the Championship table last term, and conceded 45 goals in that league campaign under the management of Chris Hughton.
The Reds have already lost Yuri Ribeiro over the summer, with the defender departing the City Ground when his contract with the club reached a conclusion, so reinforcements are needed.
The Athletic have previously revealed that Forest have told Gaetan Bong that he is free to depart too, whilst also moving on Tyler Blackett, who left the club in favour of a move to MLS side FC Cininnati.
Jordan Gabriel has also been linked with a permanent move away from Forest in recent weeks, so additional strength in depth is certainly needed in the Forest defence.
Palmer has one year remaining on his contract with Wednesday, and it appears as though he’s one of Forest’s targets heading into the final few weeks of the summer transfer window.
‘Bargain deal’
Palmer has been a fantastic servant for Wednesday over the years, even though they’ve endured a frustrating last few campaigns in recent seasons.
The defender made 41 appearances in total for the Owls last term, although his efforts weren’t quite enough to see them avoid relegation into the third-tier of English football, much to the frustration of the Hillsborough faithful.
Palmer has shown that he can be a threat in attacking areas of a team as well, having chipped in with three assists in total last season for Darren Moore’s side and it’ll be interesting to see whether he’s keen on a move to the City Ground in the summer transfer window.
Forest certainly need depth in their defensive options, and signing a player of Palmer’s quality would be the right way to address that issue.
The full-back is on reported wages of £12,000 per-week with Wednesday, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the Owls were tempted to move him on, as they look to financially adjust to the demands of dropping into League One, and their loss could be Forest’s potential gain.
Nixon claims in the report that it would be a ‘bargain’ deal for the Reds, and that should make for encouraging reading for Nottingham Forest’s supporters in the early stages of the 2021/22 league campaign, as they won’t want to be spending a considerable amount of money on players, as they look to comply with FFP regulations.
It is claimed that it could be a ‘bargain’ deal for Nottingham Forest, in what could turn out to be a shrewd addition to their defensive line this summer.
It would address a problem position for Nottingham Forest, and the sooner they act on getting this deal over the line, the better as they could potentially find themselves struggling in the Championship once again this term if they aren’t to sign additional strength in depth at full-back moving forwards this summer.
AND in other news…Nottingham Forest are also interested in this Championship star…