Nottingham Forest are now in talks to offload one of Nuno’s summer signings this January, as he has failed to make the desired impact at the City Ground.
Forest looking to offload Nuno signing after Dyche arrival
Evangelos Marinakis wasted little time appointing a successor to Ange Postecoglou, with Sean Dyche recently giving his first interview since becoming manager, in a journey that has come full circle, having started at Forest as a youth player.
Dyche will be under no illusions as to the size of the task at hand, with the Tricky Trees currently in the Premier League relegation zone, having already sacked two managers, while there is also European Football to contend with.
Indeed, the 54-year-old’s first match in charge will be against FC Porto on Thursday evening, with his side still looking for their first win in the Europa League, having suffered an extremely disappointing 3-2 home defeat against FC Midtjylland last time out.
The former Everton boss has just over two months to improve results before the January transfer window opens, at which point the manager may look to reshuffle the squad he has inherited and bring in some new recruits.
According to a report from Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness), a departure may also be on the cards, with it being revealed that Nottingham Forest have now entered talks to sell €30m (£26m) summer signing Arnaud Kalimuendo.
Kalimuendo hasn’t hit the ground running since being signed in the summer, with the 23-year-old still yet to start a match, and his time at the City Ground may already be coming to an end, with the Tricky Trees open to a loan departure, which would include a purchase option.
A January exit could be on the cards, with AS Roma named as the team that have entered discussions with Forest, given that sporting director Frederic Massara knows the striker well from their time together at Rennes.
Kalimuendo must improve ahead of January
On paper, the signing of the Frenchman made perfect sense, given his goal and assist record in Ligue 1 since making a breakthrough at Lens during the 2020/21 season.
Season
Ligue 1 appearances
Goal contributions
2020/21
28
12
2021/22
32
12
2022/23
30
12
2023/24
30
14
2024/25
33
21
However, the former Rennes man has been unable to force his way into the plans of either Nuno or Postecoglou, appearing for just 65 minutes across five substitute appearances in the Premier League.
Once described as “prolific” by scout Jacek Kulig, the centre-forward has been nothing of the sort since arriving at Forest, and he may continue to struggle to get into the team in the coming weeks, given that Dyche is well-known to be a big fan of Chris Wood.
It seems a little early to sanction Kalimuendo’s departure, as it often takes players time to adapt to life in the Premier League, but the grace period can only last so long.
