Nottingham Forest could make the most exciting January signing so far - but Brighton & Wolves are missing out

Would it even be the winter transfer window without Nottingham Forest trying to complete an utterly unhinged loan deal for a player that, traditionally speaking, they should have no right to sign whatsoever? Last year, they drafted in veteran goalkeeper Keylor Navas, seemingly just for the hell of it, and now, in the midst of this driest of Januaries, it would appear that they are edging ever closer to an agreement for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Giovanni Reyna.

According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, as of Wednesday morning, Forest have pencilled in another round of negotiations with Dortmund, and are eager to thrash out the finer details of certain monetary bugbears like loan fees and salary coverage. As for the player himself, Reyna is said to have 'already accepted' Nottingham as his next destination - a development that feels decidedly fatalistic if read in a particular tone.

But if and when a deal is rubber-stamped, if could seal an arrangement that is beneficial to both club and player. At 21, Reyna is a precocious talent with an almost freakish wealth of experience to his name. The son of former Sunderland and Manchester City midfielder Claudio Reyna, the USA international has 24 senior caps under his belt already, and has played in some of Europe's most prestigious competitions, from the Champions League to the Bundesliga.

Reyna is versatile, capable of playing in an advanced midfield role or out on either flank, and is positively mesmeric with the ball at his feet. A gifted dribbler, he is fouled often, in much the same way that one might take a rolled up newspaper to a pesky fly, and he is not averse to the odd long shot or subsequent screamer. Factor in a knack of neat, incisive passing, and Reyna's creative appeal snaps into focus.

That being said, he is struggling for game time in Dortmund. So far this season, he has registered just 337 minutes of first team football across 13 outings in all competitions. For a player of his age and obvious potential, that just isn't enough. A change, therefore, is needed, and to that end, Forest must feel somewhat disbelieving that they are leading the chasing pack for the American's signature.

The fact that a club in their position, just four points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, are serious contenders to sign a gem of Reyna's calibre speaks volumes as to the allure of the English top flight, and must have several clubs around them kicking themselves that they didn't think to test the water with a bid of their own. Take the likes of Fulham or Brentford, Bournemouth or Wolves. Hell, even looking further up the table, Reyna feels like he would be the perfect acquisition for Roberto de Zerbi's hugely promising, gossamer-thin Brighton squad.

Ultimately, however, it looks as if Reyna is more likely to end up at Forest than he is anywhere else. There are kinks to be ironed out and reams of paperwork to be skim read, but all the signs would suggest that everything is progressing exactly as it should be. And once again, the most shocking arrival of a January transfer window could be setting their coordinates for the City Ground.