Back in January, FC Chambly president Fulvio Luzi teased their fans by claiming an unnamed Championship side had made a ‘seven figure offer’ for the club’s defender Oumar Gonzalez.
Said club had joined teams from Serie A, the Süper Lig in Turkey and the Eredivisie in the pursuit of the 22-year-old centre-back, but it was all futile as the Ligue 2 minnows refused to sell midway through the season.
Well, the name of that team has since been revealed, as Le Parisien explain it was Nottingham Forest, currently managed by Sabri Lamouchi.
It isn’t surprising to see the Championship club shop in France’s second-tier, as those in charge of recruiting there will know the league very well, as they look to move into the Premier League in the coming years.
Luzi told Le Parisien: “Many English sides are interested, including one currently looking to go up to the Premier League. We’ll look at the offer. We’ll talk about it with Oumar. For now, they’re just contacts”.
This suggests Nottingham Forest have yet to seriously return after seeing their first offer turned down, but for the player, who had been made aware of Forest’s bid, it’s a challenge that would be interesting.
He said: “When you’re a professional footballer, you don’t know what tomorrow will be made of. It’s true that England is a league I appreciate a lot. It’s my style in terms of duels, contact. It’s one of my dreams to play over there, but I’m under contract with FC Chambly”.
Back in January, Luzi hinted his club would ‘struggle to keep hold’ of Gonzalez this summer, and a lot could depend on how the player recovers from his recent surgery.
With French football now over for the season, the player decided it was time to sort out a shoulder problem once and for all that caused it to be unstable.
He’s out for the next three months, and Nottingham Forest will no doubt be monitoring his progress through rehabilitation.
