On Friday, Calciomercato.it reported Nottingham Forest have officially expressed interest in Roger Ibañez and are capable of offering a very important salary to the AS Roma player.
Later that day, the same website stated the Tricky Trees hadn’t sent an official offer but were expected to do so shortly.
Forza Roma now explain the situation around Nottingham Forest’s efforts to sign the centre-back.
José Mourinho has already requested Roma general manager Tiago Pinto make a few more signings. Ibañez’s sale would help the Giallorossi ‘unblock the situation’ to sign some of their targets and this is where Steve Cooper’s side come into the picture.
It’s claimed Nottingham Forest’s ‘offer arrives’ for the 24-year-old as they ‘come forward’ with a €25m bid. This is still €5m short of the fee requested by Pinto.
He adds the ‘negotiations are in progress’ but doesn’t make it clear if it’s only with Al-Ahli or both them and Nottingham Forest.
Ieri l'offerta ufficiale del Nottingham, oggi quella dell'Al Ahli. Trattative in corso. #Ibanez https://t.co/qxLP0xEPLv
— Angelo Mangiante (@angelomangiante) August 4, 2023
Corriere dello Sport state the player had a ‘long confrontation’ with Pinto yesterday to discuss Nottingham Forest’s offer, which will be transferred to his agent in the ‘next few hours’.
It’s claimed Ibañez has informed his entourage he needs a ‘very attractive’ offer of around €4-5m per year to join Cooper’s side.
The Premier League side are ‘serious’ and may rely upon Roma CEO Lina Souloukou in the potential operation. The latter knows Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis well after working for six years at at Olympiacos.
