Nottingham Forest are having to contend with outside interest in one of their stars as Vitor Pereira‘s side battle for survival, according to a report this week.
It has been a season of chaos at the City Ground.
Four permanent managers before February is out, a squad assembled at enormous cost now sitting 17th in the Premier League and staring relegation square in the face, not to mention another new head coach walking through the door just days ago.
Pereira has been here before.
The Portuguese has built a reputation for dragging clubs out of trouble, and Forest’s ownership has placed their faith in him to do exactly that between now and May.
If not, reports suggest that Pereira will be sacked by Forest come the summer.
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The new manager has an almighty task on his hands.
The fixtures are brutal — Fenerbahçe in Europe tomorrow night, then Liverpool at the City Ground, then a punishing run of away trips to Brighton and Man City. Every game feels like a cup final.
The Tricky Trees have shown at least some flickers of what they are capable of in recent weeks.
A thumping 4-0 win over Ferencvaros in the Europa League settled some nerves. A victory at Brentford before that showed character.
The defensive numbers, with an average of just less than a goal conceded per game in their last five, suggest a platform exists — if only the other end of the pitch would do its job.
And that, bluntly, is the problem.
Forest cannot score enough goals. They registered a staggering 35 shots against Wolves in their last league game and came away with nothing to show for it — a stat so jaw-dropping it stands alone as a summary of their attacking dysfunction. 35 shots, nil goals. Zero points.
That is the backdrop to a transfer story that will frustrate Forest supporters, even if they may not have seen it coming.
According to journalist Mauro Cezar, Brazilian giants Flamengo have contacted Forest striker Igor Jesus about coming back to South America before their window closes on March 3.
Their interest is apparently genuine, but the likelihood of Evangelos Marinakis greenlighting a move is slim at best.
Forest have no intention of letting him leave, and given the state of their attacking options, that stance is entirely understandable.
It does raise uncomfortable questions about whether Jesus is actually the answer to their problems.
In 25 Premier League appearances this season, the Brazilian has found the net just twice — a return that does little justice to the sizeable investment Forest made to bring him to the East Midlands.
That being said, Jesus has been free-scoring in the cups, with nine goals in eight appearances across the Carabao, FA Cup and Europa League.
Flamengo, for their part, consider the move highly unlikely, and the reality is that Forest’s grip on the player is firm.
He is going nowhere.
Marinakis wanted ‘master’ Premier League manager at Nottingham Forest over Pereira
The Tricky Trees have been considering more than one new boss.