By their own usual standards, it’s been a very quiet transfer window at Nottingham Forest so far – albeit while having reportedly completed the £10m capture of Botafogo striker, Igor Jesus.
During their first two seasons back in the Premier League, the Garibaldi signed 24 and then 11 more senior players, before just the ten additions were made last season.
So now, with the confirmation of Jesus’ deal seemingly imminent, are they about to ramp up their transfer business even further?
Nottingham Forest chasing defensive reinforcements
Of course, following last season’s seventh-place finish, Nottingham Forest are preparing to feature in European competition for the first time since 1995/96, dumped out by Bayern Munich at the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Cup back then.
This time, Nuno Espírito Santo’s side are currently scheduled to feature in the Conference League, although they could be catapulted into the Europa League, if Crystal Palace are thrown out of the competition due to multi-club ownership rules.
Either way, they’re going to have exponentially more matches to content with, so will require a bigger squad, hence why a report by Turkish outlet Fanatik claims Forest are lining up a £13m offer for centre-back Arseniy Batagov, albeit with his club Trabzonspor holding out for closer to £17m.
The 23-year-old Ukrainian began his senior career at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, before joining Zorya Luhansk, making 63 appearances for them and catching the eye of Trabzonspor, who signed him for around £1.5m a year ago.
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Batagov has earned international recognition too, starting all three of Ukraine’s matches at last summer’s Olympic Games, before also doing the same at last month’s U21 Euros, captaining his country against the Netherlands in Prešov.
So now, could he be on his way to the City Ground?
How Arseniy Batahov would improve Nottingham Forest
Despite their run to the FA Cup semi-finals, Nottingham Forest played just 44 matches across all competitions last season, while there is the potential for them to play 17 in Europe alone this time round, should they get all the way to the final, so more options will be required.
Fair to say, Nuno’s starting centre-backs remained settled throughout the campaign, as the table below outlines.
Appearances
36
37
26
6
Starts
36
37
6
1
Minutes
3,330
3,188
907
150
% of total mins
93.2%
97.4%
26.5%
4.4%
Club rank for mins
3rd
2nd
14th
21st
In short, what the table emphasises is the fact that Nikola Milenković and Murillo played almost every minute of every game last season, which is understandable, given that Adrian Clarke of the Premier League argued that they were the best pairing in the division.
Morato, meantime, was primarily used alongside the aforementioned duo when Nuno switched to a back three, often in-game, while fourth-choice option Willy Boly saw 250 minutes fewer than James Ward-Prowse, despite the fact he returned to West Ham in January, underlining his lack of importance.
This time, however, Milenković and Murillo cannot start, potentially in excess of, 60 games, so a capable deputy will be required.
Well, Batahov appears to have the attributes to be that player, described as “quality” by Hayatımız Futbol, who also praise his “positioning” and “play-making ability” from the back. Like Murillo, the promising left-footer typically operates at left centre-back.
Meantime, he has also been labelled as Ukraine’s next ‘promising prodigy’, making 23 appearances for Trabzonspor this season, most notably starting May’s Türkiye Kupası Final against Galatasaray, as his side were beaten 3-0 in Gaziantep.
Batahov scored en route to the final against İskenderunspor, but his campaign was largely hampered by various injuries, although it says something about his quality that there is still Premier League interest in him.
Like Murillo, when he arrived from Corinthians for a reported £15m two summers ago after making just 27 appearances for the Brazilian side, not too much is known about Batahov.
That said, this wildcard move, in the mould of Murillo’s capture, could lead to a repeat success, as the Ukrainian certainly has the potential to improve and become a star, just as his potential future teammate has done at the City Ground.
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