Nottingham Forest showed an interest in Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu during the summer transfer window, it has been claimed.
Following promotion to the Premier League, there was a squad overhaul at the City Ground which saw 22 signings made. But the Reds also missed out on a number of targets.
According to reports in Italy, Forest made an approach for attacking midfielder Calhanoglu. And they were not the only Premier League club keen, with Newcastle United and Everton said to have made their interest clear, too.
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According to CalcioMercato, Calhanoglu “did not take into account” the approaches from the three teams. It is said he remains keen to stay at Inter.
The 28-year-old’s contract is due to run out in the summer of 2024, although there is an option to extend it by 12 months. Amid the attention from elsewhere, discussions about a new deal could start during the World Cup break next month. Fresh terms could see the Turkey international tied down until 2026, in a bid to “avoid nasty surprises”.
Calhanoglu joined Inter on a free transfer in 2021 after leaving AC Milan. He also counts Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg and Karlsruher among his former clubs.
At Forest, boss Steve Cooper has openly discussed the challenges of integrating so many new players. His team have lost five games in a row and sit bottom of the Premier League table.
“It’s a run of results that’s not good, and I’m not going to shy away from that,” he said after Monday night’s 4-0 thumping at Leicester City. “But the situation we are in is, we have got a lot of new players. It’s not just about being a team on the pitch, it’s about the relationships, the camaraderie, the connections, everything else that you need to be a successful team.
“We are trying to become that on the job, in the hardest league in the world domestically. You can see it in our game.
“You can see some bits which can be positive, and other bits where you think we look new and fresh. They are the bits we are getting punished on, because of the level we are at, and getting the results we are.”
The club's summer recruitment has come under scrutiny on the back of a poor run of results. Chief executive Dane Murphy, head of data and analytic recruitment George Syrianos and head of scouting Andy Scott are all at risk of losing their jobs as owner Evangelos Marinakis considers a shake-up.
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