Manchester City defender Issa Kabore is a leading candidate to replace Djed Spence at Nottingham Forest.
Spence is reported to be close to completing a move to Tottenham for £20m, however, our sister publication Football.London and transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano say a fee is yet to be agreed. Nottinghamshire Live understands a deal is not done with Spurs - or any club - with Spence still away with the England Under-21s .
Forest recognise a deal could fall through and have drawn up contingency plans. As first reported by Nottinghamshire Live, Burkina Faso defender Kabore is on Forest's shortlist to replace Spence should he complete a move to the Champions League qualifiers. The Reds are only allowed to have loan two players at any one time after promotion to the Premier League and they will hope that one of those is James Garner, should Manchester United agree to a third spell at the City Ground for the midfielder.
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Kabore could be a loan option but it is believed Forest are more likely to try and negotiate a permanent long-term deal for the player, who spent last season on loan with Troyes. The French top flight club had a agreed to retain Kabore for another year, but given both teams have the same owner, that should not be an issue.
Kabore was signed from Mechelen in 2020 after making just five first team appearances before being loaned back to the Belgian club. He has just completed another strong loan spell with Troyes but the path to the City first team is blocked by the imposing figures of Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo.
He also helped Burkina Faso reach the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations, where he was named young player of the tournament after registering three assists.
Right wing-back is a priority area for Forest to address and should Spence go elsewhere they will bring someone fresh in, with Kabore believed to be high on their list of options. 90min.com say Liverpool and Wales defender Neco Williams is another contender, which would make sense given his success on loan at Fulham last season playing as an attacking right-back in a similar vein to Spence.
