Joe Worrall set to sign for overseas club amid Leeds United and Leicester City links | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest captain Joe Worrall has been linked to a number of clubs over recent months, but a late switch in plan is going to affect the former Leeds United and Leicester City target's eventual destination.

The central defender, who played a big role in the club getting to - and staying in - the Premier League, was left with little option but to look for another club after he and fellow defender Scott McKenna were both exiled from first-team training in late 2023, as per the Daily Mail.

The Englishman had only played in seven league games for the club in the 2023/24 campaign; five of those appearances were starts.

Joe Worrall set to join Besiktas

All the signs pointed towards him making a move to Turkish club Trabzonspor.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said that the club had sent an offer to Forest and that talks were advancing well - but it now seems that he's off to one of the other big teams in the Süper Lig.

The 27-year-old is all set to join Turkish giants Besiktas on loan though, according to The Athletic.

The outlet added that Worrall had travelled to Istanbul over the weekend, and that he was in attendance for the team's 1-0 win over Trabzonspor - the club that were also interested in his services.

Besiktas currently sit in third position in the Turkish Super Lig, although they were eliminated from the UEFA Europa Conference League in the group stage.

Leeds and Leicester's interest in Joe Worrall

It had previously been reported that the two promotion-chasing Championship sides were looking into bringing the unwanted defender back to the second division of English football.

TalkSPORT's Alex Crook told GiveMeSport that people should keep an eye on a potential move to Elland Road for the 27-year-old.

Daniel Farke's side also, reportedly, tried to bring in Harry Souttar on a loan-to-buy move, but the deal was shunned by the Foxes, who didn't want to help a promotion rival, as per Football Insider.

Leicester's reported interest in the Forest defender came from the Daily Mail, who added that Middlesbrough also looked at the possibility of bringing in Worrall.

Joe Worrall would have massively boosted Leeds and Leicester's promotion hopes

The two sides are looking to get back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and they are certainly two of the favourites. Leicester have topped the Championship table for the majority of the 2023/24 campaign, and Leeds will likely find themselves in a battle with fellow relegated side Southampton, and Championship newcomers Ipswich Town, for an automatic promotion spot.

If either Leeds or Leicester could have brought in Worrall, it would have immediately added more depth to their backline, but, most importantly, it would have added that promotion-winning mentality - he played 39 times in Forest's promotion-winning season in 2021-22, which they achieved through the playoffs.

It's one thing having the quality to get a promotion, but it's another to have the experience and the know-how of actually getting it done.

The Foxes and the Whites have very different teams to the ones that got promoted to the Premier League, or won it in Leicester's case - that recent experience of getting promoted to the Prem would have been invaluable to either team.