Nottingham Forest submitting offer for midfielder likened to Steven Gerrard - report

Nottingham Forest are reportedly set to make a bid for Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara in the coming days.

The 22-year-old is also of interest to Crystal Palace, who are said to have already made an offer.

Monaco have already sold key midfielder Aladji Bamba to Newcastle United this summer, and are not willing to accept anything less than a fee in the region of £43million.

The French side are not under pressure to sell with Camara under contract until 2029, but are well aware that the allure of the Premier League can be hard to deny.

The Senegal international made 31 appearances across all competitions last season, and featured at the World Cup.

A very active box-to-box midfielder, Camara can be seen popping up anywhere across the pitch and is more than capable of contributing in both boxes.

Nottingham Forest must act quickly for Lamine Camara

In a lot of ways, this summer has been slow going for Nottingham Forest.

Elliot Anderson's £116m move to Manchester City at the beginning of the window may well have scuppered several negotiations, with clubs being well aware of the huge amount of money at their disposal.

Potential moves for Lucas Bergvall and several others appear to have come and gone, although Xaver Schlager has arrived on a free transfer.

A move for Camara appeared far more palpable, however. According to Sebastian Denis, Nottingham Forest will make a first offer imminently.

They will have to be quick about it, however, with Palace already in negotiations to sign the midfielder.

El Hadji Diouf raved about Camara

Last season in Ligue 1, Camara created 1.7 chances per game. He completed 2.87 long balls, too, and 1.26 crosses.

Going backwards, he won 2.33 free-kicks, made 2.67 tackles, 1.80 interceptions, an astonishing 7.68 recoveries and won 6.56 duels per game.

This is a midfielder that can do everything, and that may be exactly why he is the perfect man to replace Anderson.

Speaking in 2024 when Camara was breaking through with Metz, former Liverpool and Leeds United forward El Hadji Diouf said: "Lamine doesn't even play the football of his generation.

"The only two players I've seen play in the same way are Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard."

Extremely high praise, and the type of comment that should incentivise Nottingham Forest to make their move quickly.