Nottingham Forest notebook: Cody Gakpo interest and…

Nottingham Forest notebook: Cody Gakpo interest and time for Orel Mangala to back up Roberto Martinez text

The World Cup group stage is starting to draw to a close with Nottingham Forest's players reporting back for training today after a short break where they were allowed to catch the last of the 10am and 1pm games from Qatar.

Now back it is all systems go ahead of the return of the Premier League. With that in mind, Matt Davies dusted off his notebook to look at some of the news and views from in and around the City Ground this week.

Cody Gakpo is out of reach now

Cody Gakpo was on Nottingham Forest's list of potential summer transfers. Admittedly it was a long list but it's understood the Reds were keen on the Dutch forward, who has been an early star of the World Cup.

There was intense interest from a host of clubs in the summer with Leeds, Forest, Arsenal and Southampton all linked. It was reported at one stage that Forest would land the 23-year-old with his fee reportedly rising to around £35m by the end of the summer.

Given he has scored in every game of the World Cup, only Arsenal look like a realistic destination from that list in January if he does move on. As well as the Gunners, Manchester United and Newcastle have been linked with the fee now said to be closer to £50m so credit to PSV Eindhoven for not cashing in a few months ago.

That fee is not surprising given Gakpo has been involved in 35 goals already this season for club and country. He has scored 17 and assisted 18 after his goal against Qatar. Forest are more likely to focus on bringing in a central striker and a ball playing defender in January rather than a winger, but you never know with the Reds under Evangelos Marinakis, who certainly backs his managers in the transfer market.

Time for Mangala to back up promise

Nottingham Forest were back in training today and it was interesting to see youngsters like central midfielder Billy Fewster and Dale Taylor left out of the Under-21s squad last night, suggesting they might be involved with the first team set up in the next few weeks with five players at the World Cup, plus five who are on loan elsewhere.

It looks likely Brennan Johnson, Neco Williams and Wayne Hennessey will exit the competition tonight although they still have a chance to go through, as does Remo Freuler. The biggest concern to Steve Cooper will be Cheikou Kouyate after his injury in the first game for Senegal.

It's a great shame for the player but if there is one area where Forest could afford to lose a player it is perhaps central midfield. Now could be the time for Orel Mangala to cement his place if Kouyate misses games.

Mangala looks the real deal when Forest can get him on the pitch. Seeing him play reminds me of what Belgium manager Roberto Martinez texted Darren Fletcher after he signed, with Fletcher reading the message on the Garibaldi Red podcast.

"Very interesting player, Orel. He was our best performer for the under-21s in Italy (at the European Championship) in 2019.

"'Good engine, good steady effect in the game. His best position is as a box-to-box midfielder. Good technical ability and great temperament on the pitch. Top team player, big potential, intelligent signing."

The tag 'Belgium manager Roberto Martinez' might need the word former in front of it looking at how they have played in the World Cup mind.

New book sells in its thousands

Finally, it was great to discuss the new book Freed From Desire on this week's podcast. It's a photo anthology of last season by Simon Bristow, known as Our Glorious Banners on social media.

Simon photographs fans at games and gets some great shots. Some 3,500 copies have already been sold with the profits evenly split between Forza Garibaldi and the Robin Hood Fund. The book is available through the Forza website.

How many players do Forest need in January? Have your say in the comments section below

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