Nottingham Forest and Watford join Swansea City in race for 29-year-old | OneFootball

Championship side Nottingham Forest have entered the race for former loanee Cyrus Christie ahead of the summer window, according to an update from the Sky Sports Transfer Centre (14/5; 12:30pm).

The Irishman plied his trade at Swansea City on a temporary spell from Fulham during the second half of the 2020/21 campaign and performed reasonably well – but is unlikely to be involved at Craven Cottage again and will be available for free in the summer because of that.

According to this update, the Swans are expected to offer the 29-year-old the chance to make his stay in South Wales permanent after being a regular starter at the Swansea.com Stadium, making 23 league appearances.

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He recorded three goals and five assists in the process as a real attacking threat for Russell Martin’s side – and this hasn’t gone unnoticed with Forest and the Hornets both joining the race for his signature along with Turkish sides Konyaspor and Fenerbahce.

Steve Cooper’s side will be looking for a replacement for Djed Spence with the 21-year-old set to return to parent club Middlesbrough in the summer – and though a permanent move hasn’t been ruled out at this stage – he has been linked with several European giants including Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

This could rule the East Midlands outfit out of the race for Spence, though they may be satisfied with the addition of Christie who played a big part in helping Forest to concede just 45 goals in 46 league games during the 2020/21 season.

The Verdict:

Recording five assists during his time with Forest, he would have registered far more than that during 2021/22 if he had spent the entire season at Swansea and on a free transfer, he would be an excellent addition.

Richie Laryea arguably deserves a chance to shine but he isn’t exactly a regular starter at this stage and he may be required on the left-hand side at times so it wouldn’t hurt to have Christie, even if he was just a backup option in the Premier League.

This is why a move for him would be a no-brainer – but they may face a considerable battle with Swansea in their potential quest to land him considering how much the Irishman seemed to enjoy his time in South Wales.

They may not have pushed for promotion this season like Forest have – but they have an attractive style of play and an exciting future vision with their aim of getting back to the top flight, so it will be interesting to see which option he chooses.

Financially, Forest will need to be careful but Swansea may not offer him a huge amount in terms of wages if they don’t offload one or two key players first, so this is definitely a race the former can win.