Lorenzo Lucca’s future already sealed at Nottingham Forest as full stats emerge vs Fenerbahce
Evangelos Marinakis has very little time to decide if Nottingham Forest are going to splash out on signing Lorenzo Lucca permanently.
With Chris Wood sidelined and Igor Jesus the only striker option at the City Ground, the Reds were desperate for another attacker during the winter transfer window.
The crosshairs of Forest‘s target landed on Napoli striker Lucca, who had netted just twice in 23 appearances since switching from Udinese during the summer.
Udinese played to the 25-year-old’s strengths, helping him to 14 goals in all competitions last term, but in the 2025-26 campaign, he has just three goals to his name across two different clubs.
Lorenzo Lucca has the first half from hell in the Europa League
It is hardly a surprise that the loanee has struggled to find his feet in England, especially with everything going on at the City Ground, and many players failing to find any decent form.
However, there was hope that the appointment of Vitor Pereira would reignite his season, but he had only featured off the bench in the new manager’s first two games, at least until Thursday, 26 February.
Lucca was given the chance to start against Fenerbahce in the Europa League, but by the time the whistle blew for the second half, he had already been replaced by Jesus.
In the first 45 minutes, he grappled for a foothold in the game, picking up a yellow card, while also touching the ball just 10 times [FotMob]. Sadly, his stats only get worse.
Nottingham Forest loanee fails on every single level vs Fenerbahce
He completed just 50 per cent of his six attempted passes, created zero chances, had zero shots, completed zero dribbles, and lost 100 per cent of his five ground duels.
There was very little for the Italian international to boast about, being axed just halfway into the game. Had he netted a few more in his limited games so far, there might be more of an argument to make.
Whether the Reds manage to escape the relegation battle or not, signing a striker will be hugely important ahead of the 2026-27 campaign, but it just cannot be Lucca.
The striker has failed to impress in every way imaginable. Marinakis would be foolish to splash any money at all, especially given that the Serie A giants spent over £30million on him in the winter.