The £12m genius transfer that would take Nottingham Forest to the next level

Despite securing survival with an impressive run of end-of-season form, Nottingham Forest have plenty of work to do this summer. Much of that is down to their enormously bloated and somewhat uneven squad, a mish-mash of players of varying age, quality and value – and while the front line of Morgan Gibbs-White, Brennan Johnson and Taiwo Awoniyi was gelling beautifully by the close of the campaign, there is inarguably room for improvement elsewhere.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis may want to go on another Supermarket Sweep-style spree, grabbing any player in sight as he sprints down the aisles of the transfer market, and a broad range of players have been linked with a move to the City Ground already. Few of them, frankly, could be said to be top-shelf material – but one name stands out as a player that could hit some serious heights. That player is Pablo Maia.

The 21-year-old Brazilian midfielder – known as Pablo Gonçalves Maia Fortunato to his mother – has been a first-team regular for São Paulo in the Brazilian Série A for the past two seasons and is beginning to generate some serious interest in England. As well as Forest, it’s reported that West Ham and Fulham are working on bids for the youngster, with an asking price of around £12m.

It’s easy to see why he’s in demand. A primarily defensive central midfielder, he has an excellent all-round game. He’s a strong tackler and has great position awareness, a willing runner with the tactical nous to function as part of a high-power pressing unit, and a very tidy passer with a good range and an eye for a long ball.

He’s also got an excellent first touch, which gives him the knack of creating space for his passes and helps him to evade opposing pressing moves – hugely important in high-pressure leagues like the English top tier.

He has a box-to-box game, although it’s as a passing player rather than a ball-carrier like Declan Rice – once he’s given the ball on he likes to push up from deep and provide options around the edge of the penalty area. One of those options, happily, is hitting the back of the net – although by no means a regular goal-scorer, he has a lovely long-range shot in his locker and is typically good for a couple of crackers a season.

If he has any weaknesses, it’s a comparative lack of pace and the fact that he doesn’t have killer final balls in his locker – he spreads the play but doesn’t make the final pass himself very often. He’s also strong but, at 5’10” and a reported 10.5 stone isn’t a hugely imposing physical presence, although he has the determination and anticipation to make up for physical deficits.

His strong all-round game means he should, at a bare minimum, provide strong competition for Forest’s established central midfielders. Nobody could accuse Orel Mangala or Ryan Yates of shirking their task this season, but neither has shone on England’s biggest stage and control of central areas has been a constant issue at the City Ground. Statistically, Pablo Maia comfortably outshines Yates and Mangala as both a passer and a tackler, albeit at a very different level of play.

You can also see why Fulham and West Ham would be keen, too – he has many of the same key attributes as João Palhinha and Rice respectively, both of whom are liable to leave their London clubs in the near future. Maia is unlikely to be at their level from the get-go, but could present a good budget option for clubs seeking a stand-in who frees cash up to be spent elsewhere on the squad.

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Clearly, at just 21 years of age, a move to the Premier League would represent a substantial step up, and there are few guarantees with transfers like this – not that Forest have struck anyone as a club who are averse to taking a punt with their purchases, of course. There is always the chance that adaptation to the country and culture, or just to a different pace and style of league, will be an insurmountable challenge. But with his best years well ahead of him, and with £12m being a relatively low price for the modern Premier League, this should be a priority signing for Steve Cooper’s side – and would likely be a very smart one indeed.