Nottingham Forest are set to complete the signing of Gonzalo Montiel, according to reports. It’s claimed that the player is set for a medical as soon as Monday.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Reds have agreed to a £9 million fee to sign the Argentine from Sevilla. He believes that an agreement on personal terms is now close to being finalised.
The 26-year-old will have to be viewed as a bit of a coup for the Reds. He was part of the Argentina outfit that won the World Cup in 2022, featuring in four of the matches; including 30 minutes in the final.
Montiel has been with Sevilla for two years after he signed for the club from River Plate. He actually played seven minutes for Sevilla as recently tas Wednesday as they lost to Manchester City in the UEFA Super Cup.
In total, he’s made 72 appearances for the La Liga outfit and largely operates as a right-back. That aspect is intriguing given that Forest already have Serge Aurier and Neco Williams for that position.
Clearly, the club has something in mind for one of those players. It’s hard to imagine Forest signing Montiel and keeping the pair at the club when both are unlikely to play.
The other possibility is that Williams is viewed as an option at left-back. That’s where he played against Sheffield United with Ola Aina nursing an injury he picked up in training.
Montiel has picked up 23 caps for his country and will go down as one of the players who won the World Cup. He’s now set to embrace a new chapter in the Premier League, with the deal drawing to a close.
Forest set to sign Montiel according to Romano
This does look like a good signing. Last season, he made 43 appearances in all competitions, including seven in the Europa League and four in the Champions League.
Forest had recently been linked with a move for Nuno Tavares. It would appear that the Reds are now going for Montiel instead, albeit he plays on the opposite side of the defence.
Squawka shows that Montiel is the better bet. Although he’s three years older than the Arsenal man, the Argentine wins more clearances, makes more interceptions and last season, he also won more blocks.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. Aurier or Williams will surely not be sticking around and in the case of Aurier, he will be out of contract next summer.
Signing Montiel seems like a good piece of business, however. The club have gone from languishing in the bottom three of the Championship to signing World Cup-winning players in the space of two years.
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