Football Insider exclusive as Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner stares towards defender Ousmane Diomande, who is in action in a circular inset.
Forest aren't planning to sign a new centre-back right now.Imago

Sources: Nottingham Forest's chances of signing defender in January revealed

Pete O'Rourke, Transfer Correspondent

Transfer Correspondent AUTHORITY Former Sky Sports and ESPN FC correspondent who specialises in global recruitment, contract negotiations, and high-velocity transfer breaking news. FOCUS Exclusive reporting, domestic and international transfer markets, and elite-level insights. THE INSIGHT Pete utilises a Global Network of Industry Sources to deliver verified, first-to-market reporting. His “Deep-Lens” analysis connects the dots between boardroom strategy and pitch-level recruitment, providing a level of transfer clarity that goes beyond surface-level rumours.

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Nottingham Forest do not view the addition of a new centre-back as a top priority ahead of the January window, sources have told Football Insider. 

The Reds’ depth at the heart of their backline has been questioned of late, but they have no immediate plans to address that area of the pitch this winter. 

Forest splashed £34million to sign Ousmane Diomande in the summer, and are not prepared to spend big on another centre-back in such close proximity. 

Sources say that Oliver Glasner and Co. are hopeful that Nikola Milenkovic will ease their issues at the back when he returns from injury.

The East Midlands outfit have kept just one clean sheet from their opening six Premier League games, having only managed nine shutouts across the whole of last season.

Forest’s depth at centre-back is under scrutiny at the moment, but the club are not particularly concerned about it right now.

Oliver Glasner forced into makeshift solution

Glasner has opted to play his favoured back-three formation so far this season, but his loyalty to that system has caused issues to an extent in recent weeks.

With Milenkovic out injured, the Reds have just three natural centre-backs that are fit at the moment: Murillo, Diomande and Jair Cunha.

That prompted Glasner to opt for the makeshift solution of playing Ola Aina on the right of the back three last weekend, instead of in his usual right-back position.

Glasner’s decision backfired on this occasion, as his team were beaten 3-1 away at Crystal Palace, raising more concerns regarding the defensive depth.

However, with Milenkovic expected to return to action in the coming weeks, Forest have no concerns about their centre-back depth, despite having just four natural options to fill three positions.

Football Insider exclusive as Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner stares towards defender Ousmane Diomande, who is in action in a circular inset.
Nottingham Forest have 'huge' Liam Delap concern

Nottingham Forest’s ‘huge’ Liam Delap concern

Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider earlier this week that Forest should be “hugely worried” about the prospect of relying on striker Liam Delap to score their goals this season.

The ex-recruitment man is adamant that the £50m summer buy is “not good enough” to lead the line for a team at Premier League.

Brown described Delap’s performance against Palace last weekend as “incredibly wasteful,” and re-iterated that he cannot be relied upon to convert chances. 

The former scout outlined Forest’s goalscoring as their “biggest problem” at the moment, and feels they have no obvious solution to their issues in their current squad.

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