Nottingham Forest set for Premier League transfer blow as Man United eye wonderkid deal

Here are the latest Championship rumours:

Nottingham Forest target edging towards Premier League move

Galatasaray striker Mbaye Diagne is reportedly close to joining Watford amid interest from Nottingham Forest.

According to Le Quotidien, the player is nearing a move to the Hornets, that is despite the player himself dropping a less than subtle hint on social media. Diagne is currently on loan at Club Brugge and appeared to post a farewell message on his personal Instagram page. The post also contained the Forest badge.

To sign up to our daily Forest newsletter click here

Diagne spent time at Juventus earlier in his career, but he did not make a competitive appearance for the Old Lady. Spells in China with Tianjin TEDA and in Turkey with Kasimpasa followed before he joined Galatasaray in January 2019.

Unfortunately, the arrival of Radamel Falcao pushed Diagne down the pecking order and forced him to join Brugge in September. Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi has been evaluating his attacking options. Lewis Grabban leads the club’s scoring charts with 17 goals, but Lamouchi is eager to add greater depth up top.

Baggies trailing Fenerbahce striker

West Bromwich Albion will bid for Fenerbahce striker Vedat Muriqi, but only if they achieve promotion to the Premier League.

Muriqi, 26, joined the Turkish giants last summer and managed 13 goals in 25 games before the suspension of the Super Lig due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Baggies are the latest side to take an interest, and Turkish newspaper Aksam claims the club will make an offer if they are promoted.

The report states that the Midlands club will offer €20million, which Fenerbahce are willing to accept for the Kosovan striker. This arrives after it was revealed by the player’s agent Haluk Canatar that Burnley made an offer for Muriqi in January, which was rejected by the Turkish giants.

Wednesday in talks with highly-rated defender

Sheffield Wednesday are in negotiations to extend the deal of Osaze Urhoghide.

Urhoghide, 19, joined the club last year following a successful trial and made an instant impression during his first-team debut in the FA Cup against Brighton and Hove Albion. He had previously signed a one-year deal, but now The Star is reporting that the club have intentions to extend his stay well past 2021.

Speaking to the Star, Urhoghide’s agent Ricky Pattenden confirmed talks are underway, “Osaze is really happy at Sheffield Wednesday and is very much enjoying working under Garry Monk… The club have already made it clear that they want to tie him down on a long-term deal, and I think that if it wasn’t for this Coronavirus pandemic then it would have been done already.

“Preliminary talks have taken place, and we’re hopeful that things could get sorted out in the near future.”

Man Utd ready to push ahead with chase for Jude Bellingham

Manchester United are ready to reignite their pursuit of Jude Bellingham ahead of the transfer window reopening.

Bellingham, 16, is one of Europe’s most coveted prospects and has been heavily linked with Man Utd and Borussia Dortmund of late. Reports in April suggested that Dortmund had won the race to secure Bellingham’s signature, with Birmingham set for a massive windfall from the deal regardless.

Now, the MEN understands that Man Utd are confident of being able to secure the wonderkid’s signature. The coronavirus is expected to have a considerable impact on the transfer window as clubs attempt to recover from the economic impact of not playing games and losing match-day revenue.

Bellingham is unable to sign a professional contract with Birmingham until he turns 17, on June 29. He is then expected to agree his big-money move.