Nottingham Forest eye £35m ex-Liverpool target as Fulham ‘enquire’ for Everton flop

Nottingham Forest are reportedly ready to make a big money offer to tempt Portuguese giants Benfica into selling midfielder Florentino Luis.

After embarking on a major overhaul of his squad 12 months ago, Forest manager Steve Cooper has made just four signings this summer after Anthony Elanga, Matt Turner and Ola Aina arrived at the City Ground and Chris Wood’s loan deal was converted into a permanent move.

One report has suggested Luis has now been identified as a key target by Forest, who are said to have been unsuccessful with a previous offer of around £30million. A new offer of £35million is set to be submitted with the Portuguese giants but it seems that will still not convince Benfica to part company with the former Portugal Under-21 international.

The 3AM Verdict: Luis feels like a very ambitious target for Forest after he was linked with the likes of Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City in the recent past. However, an offer of £35million seems likely to be rejected by Benfica meaning there would still be more work to do for Forest.

Liverpool set for surprise transfer windfall

Liverpool could be handed an unexpected boost to their transfer kitty as Porto ponder the sale of a former Reds midfielder.

Just under eight years have passed since Marko Grujic became Jurgen Klopp’s first signing at Anfield and it was a deal that did not work out as the Serbian made just 16 appearances for the Reds and fared little better during loan spells at Cardiff City and Hertha Berlin.

There was some success to be found when he joined Porto on loan in October 2020 before that deal was converted into a permanent switch just under two years later. Grujic has helped his side to two Portuguese Cup Final wins, two League Cup Finals wins and a Primeira Liga title triumph over the last two seasons but A Bola have claimed his time at Porto is coming to an end and have suggested AC Milan could be his next destination. Liverpool are believed to have a 10 percent sell-on clause inserted into the deal that took Grujic to Porto.

The 3AM Verdict: Grujic seems likely to move on from Porto over the next couple of weeks and although the return Liverpool will make on their sell-on may seem small, it does give them something additional from the sale of the midfielder.

Fulham eye Everton flop as possible Mitrovic replacement

It would be safe to say Moise Kean did not exactly set the Premier League alight during his underwhelming spell with Everton.

The 12-times capped Italy international joined the Toffees from Juventus in the summer of 2019 and went on to score just four goals in 39 appearances. After a poor loan stint with Paris Saint-Germain, Kean returned to Juve on loan in August 2021 before that move was converted into a permanent move last summer.

However, Italian outlet CalcioMercato have claimed Juve will now ‘willingly give up’ the striker in raise funds to strengthen elsewhere in their squad and have already received an enquiry from Europa League winners Sevilla over a possible loan deal. Juventid would prefer a permanent deal and the report also suggests Fulham would be willing to meet their demands as they look to replace Aleksander Mitrovic.

The 3AM Verdict: Replacing Mitrovic will be high on the agenda for the Cottagers between now and the end of the summer transfer window. There will be a whole host of weird and wonderful names suggested as possible targets and this one would be something of a surprise if it did go through.