Sources: Nottingham Forest set to beat Everton to Neal Maupay signing after talks
Nottingham Forest are confident of fending off Everton and Fulham to sign Brighton striker Neal Maupay, sources have told Football Insider.
Everton and Fulham have expressed interest in hijacking Forest’s move for the Frenchman, as they both look to sign a centre-forward by the 31 August cut-off.
Forest remain positive that they have done enough to convince Maupay, 26, to make the move to the City Ground ahead of their Premier League rivals.
A breakthrough in negotiations is close following recent talks.
Everton are in desperate need of a new striker after selling Richarlison to Tottenham in a deal worth up to £60million this summer.
Sources told Football Insider at the beginning of the month (3 August) that Dominic Calvert-Lewin is set to miss 10 weeks of action with a knee injury.
Winger Anthony Gordon has been forced to lead the line in the Toffees’ opening two Premier League games of the season.
Maupay would offer proven Premier League quality after scoring 26 goals in 102 appearances, including 84 starts in the top-flight for Brighton.
He only has a year left to run on his contract on the south coast and has not featured for Graham Potter’s side this season.
Forest have already bolstered their attacking options with the arrival of Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis but have only scored once in their opening two Premier League games of the season.
They lost forwards Keinan Davis and Lewis Grabban in the close season.
Maupay would be their 16th signing of the summer as Steve Cooper attempts to rebuild the side that won promotion from the Championship via the play-offs last season.
In other news, Everton could sell Gordon for an “astronomical” fee after a source’s new bid update.