Nottingham Forest must accelerate Malik Tillman signing plan as astonishing World Cup stats emerge

Nottingham Forest will likely have been among the Premier League sides tracking Malik Tillman's situation ahead of this summer after it emerged that he could leave Bayer Leverkusen.

The 24-year-old struggled for consistent minutes in the second half of the season, but demonstrated his ability as the United States beat Paraguay 4-1 in their World Cup opener on Saturday.

Damian Bobadilla's own-goal got the scoring underway for the hosts, with Folarin Balogun's brace and Giovanni Reyna's late strike cancelling out Mauricio's consolation.

Tillman failed to get on the scoresheet but was hugely impressive, likely putting several potential suitors on notice.

It has been suggested that the midfielder is keen to leave Leverkusen this summer, despite having arrived from PSV just last summer.

Premier League sides looking to sign the American will need to, at least, pay the £30million that the Bundesliga club spent to take him to Germany.

Malik Tillman's impressive stats vs Paraguay

Born in Nurnberg, Tillman spent his youth career with Bayern Munich and represented Germany at the youth international level.

In 2022, however, the attacking midfielder declared for the United States and first began to catch the eye during a loan spell at Rangers.

The 24-year-old spent the next two seasons at PSV and his 25 goals were enough to convince Leverkusen to sign him last summer, despite competition from the likes of Nottingham Forest.

With Tillman now ready to leave, however, transfer chiefs at the City Ground and throughout the Premier League have been put back on notice, especially after Saturday's display.

The midfielder claimed an assist for Balogun's second goal with a lovely pass, but that was just a small element of a staggering performance.

Tillman created three chances, took five shots and completed two successful dribbles, and his defensive work was there too.

The midfielder won four free-kicks, made seven recoveries and won seven duels, too.

Carles Martinez Novell intervention to be key in Tillman future

Much of Tillman's frustrations at Leverkusen have come from manager Kasper Hjulmand's lack of trust in him.

The midfielder made just 18 Bundesliga starts last season, largely appearing from the bench in the second half of the campaign.

After missing out on Champions League football, however, Hjulmand has been sacked and replaced by former Toulouse boss Carles Martinez Novell.

The 42-year-old supposedly has a track record of working with young players, and may be key to a potential U-turn for Tillman.

Should a move materialise, Nottingham Forest will hope those discussions ultimately prove fruitless this summer.