'Significant Effort' - Nottingham Forest, Olympiacos Working on €20M Deal

According to reports from Spain cited by the specialised outlet TransferFeed, Nottingham Forest have made an approach to sign Racing Santander midfielder Gustavo Puerta, while Olympiacos have opened talks with the Spanish club and also expressed interest in the 23-year-old Colombian.

It is worth remembering that both Forest and Olympiacos are owned by Evangelos Marinakis, and strategic moves between the two clubs are common. This summer is a clear example, with the permanent transfer of Angola centre-back David Carmo from Nottingham to Piraeus completed without any complications.

The Greek giants also secured the signing of 26-year-old Portuguese winger Jota Silva on loan from Nottingham Forest with an undisclosed purchase option. The icing on the cake was the surprise signing of Portuguese midfielder Gustavo Sa from Famalicao.

However, Sa, 21, joined on loan after originally signing for Nottingham Forest, as the transfer fee was considered impossible for the Greek club to pay. The English side covered the cost, and the player was promised the opportunity to play in the Premier League in the near future. Apparently, the loan is valid for one season.

Well, according to the latest reports, we could be close to seeing something similar in Puerta’s case.

The TransferFeed report states that Racing Santander values the player at around €10 million. However, other reports suggest Racing were asking for as much as €20 million back in July after receiving initial offers of around €16 million from clubs that have not been identified.

"Although the Greek club has begun a significant effort, a deal is not currently believed to be close," the cited outlet added.

Hours after that report emerged, TransferFeed published an update indicating that Olympiacos were in advanced talks with the Spanish club to sign Puerta.

For now, the talented midfielder is under contract through 2029, and the Red and Whites are described as determined to secure his signature.

It is evident that the club needs a midfielder, as one of the deficiencies exposed in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round against NEC Nijmegen was precisely in midfield, where Argentina midfielder Santiago Hezze was unavailable due to injury, while Dani Garcia and Christos Mouzakitis failed to deliver.

In his postgame interview, head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar emphasised what his players lacked to secure the victory and the lead in the qualification race.

"It was really something we didn't expect. We were saying yesterday in training that this team hasn't scored in a while, and we were discussing who would score. It was a strange game with a lot of one-on-ones. They were better in that part, and they beat us. They were more aggressive, faster. We had a hard time creating. In that sense, they were better," he said about the match.