Nottingham Forest have joined the growing English chase for Jonathan Jesus, and they already have an interesting plan for the Cruzeiro defender. Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea are also keen.
The 21-year-old has been attracting plenty of attention in recent months. Chelsea’s BlueCo network is already working on one route through Strasbourg, while Tottenham Hotspur are also keeping tabs on him.
Now Nottingham Forest have entered the picture with intent, as shared by Brazilian outlet RTI Esporte.
Their idea would be to sign Jonathan Jesus and initially place him at Olympiacos. The Greek club would give him time to adapt to European football before a potential move to the City Ground. Same thing that happened with midfielder Gustavo Sá earlier in the window.
Forest have a plan for Jonathan Jesus
The suggestion from Brazil is that Nottingham Forest could use Olympiacos as the first stage of Jonathan Jesus’ European career. That would allow them to follow his development closely without immediately throwing him into English football.
Jonathan Jesus, for his part, is said to be excited by the possibility of moving to Europe. Russia is much less attractive to him despite Zenit returning for another attempt recently. The Russian club previously offered €8m (£6.9m), which Cruzeiro rejected.
Forest therefore have something which should appeal to the player. They can offer him a European move immediately, with a possible route to England already built into the deal.
Chelsea and Tottenham providing competition
There could be fierce competition if Nottingham Forest decide to take the next step. RTI Esporte specifically names Chelsea and Tottenham as two other English clubs monitoring Jonathan Jesus. The same two clubs we have covered in the past.
But the biggest obstacle for all three Premier League clubs could be Cruzeiro’s asking price.
There are currently different versions coming from Brazil. Previous reports said Cruzeiro wanted around €15m (£12.9m) for the centre-back. RTI Esporte now puts their demands even higher, saying they expect more than €20m (£17.2m).
Either figure would represent a huge rise from the €8m (£6.9m) Zenit previously put forward.
Jonathan Jesus has given Cruzeiro good reason to push their demands upwards though. He has played 20 times this season and started 19 of those matches.
At 21, he also offers the development and resale potential that makes him particularly attractive to these multi-club structures.
Forest now appear to have joined that battle with a very specific route in mind. Olympiacos first, then potentially Nottingham. We’ll see.
