Forest: Cooper eyes player with same agent as Johnson

Could Forest beat Wolves to the signing of a West Ham icon this summer?

Nottingham Forest target Aaron Cresswell has refused to train with the West Ham United team in recent weeks as he looks to “force through” a move away from East London after the Hammers rejected an initial offer from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

However, the situation has since developed, and Forest have emerged as the more likely destination for the three-capped Englishman, per Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor.

Nottingham Forest transfer news – what’s the latest on Aaron Cresswell?

Despite spending the last nine years with the East London side – following his £2m switch from Ipswich Town – Hammers icon Cresswell looks set on leaving the club after his place as first choice on the left-hand side of the defence was taken from him last year by Emerson Palmieri.

His decision was probably made simpler when, despite making seven appearances for the club in their run to and eventual triumph in the Europa Conference League final, David Moyes didn’t bring the £50,000-a-week man on in the final.

Earlier in the summer, the Daily Mail reported that Wolves were ‘in talks’ with the club over a potential £2.5m transfer for Cresswell, but the fee was deemed to be far too low and was promptly rejected, with Football Insider reporting that it would take a fee of around £4m to land his signature.

And while the same publication have since claimed that the West Midlands side are ‘expected’ to finalise the deal soon, fellow Midlands outfit Forest have emerged as a potential destination for the experienced defender, especially since he shares the same agents with Forest star Brennan Johnson.

According to the Sun’s Alan Nixon, the Tricky Trees have now entered the race for the Tranmere Rovers youth product, with journalist Ryan Taylor thinking a move to the City Ground could be likely with it looking increasingly likely that Rayan Ait-Nouri will be staying with the Old Gold.

What has Ryan Taylor said about Cresswell?

Taylor explained that Cresswell refused to partake in team training following the Irons’ refusal to accept Wolves’ initial offer of £2.5m; however, he admitted that this could have changed in the ten days since.

He also explained that recent developments could mean that instead of Wolves, it’s Forest that the Irons legend ends up playing for this season.

Taylor told GIVEMESPORT: “I don’t know if it will happen, to be honest, because it looks like Rayan Ait-Nouri is going to stay at Wolves. He was in talks with Nice over a loan move. Wolves actually made a bid for Cresswell worth about £2.5million, but West Ham wanted £5million.

“It is true that he hasn’t been training, I’ve checked that. I don’t know if he is back in training now because this was about 10 days ago that he wanted to force through that move, but it’s gone very quiet now.

“I’ve actually seen that Forest might have a look at Cresswell as well, which is interesting. I think they need a little bit of cover and competition at left-back. He’s only got one year left on his deal, which was just activated recently.”

How old is Aaron Cresswell?

Born December 15th, 1989, in Liverpool, England, the 33-year-old is an incredibly experienced operator and, despite being on the wrong side of 30 for a professional footballer, still looks like he’s got a lot left to offer whichever Premier League club decides to stump up the cash needed to get him out of the London Stadium.

According to WhoScored, in his 28 league appearances last year, he provided one assist, maintained a passing accuracy of 81.4%, won one aerial dual a game and averaged a respectable match rating of 6.61, which is quite impressive given the poor season the club had.

And whilst he may not have scored or created as many goals as he would’ve liked last year, his underlying numbers suggest he was a little unfortunate in that regard and was, in fact, quite a helpful creator going forward.

According to FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the 5 foot 7 warrior sits in the top 10% for progressive passes, the top 15% for shot-creating actions and the top 21% for expected assists, all per 90.

He may not be the most exciting of signings for the Forest faithful, but given his vast experience and relatively cheap price tag, he would surely be an intelligent acquisition for Steve Cooper’s side.