Nottingham Forest set to land Coventry City target after CBS Arena snub | OneFootball

Marko Stamenic looks set to move to Premier League side Nottingham Forest instead

Coventry City look set to miss out on the signing of Crvena Zvezda midfielder Marko Stamenic, with The Athletic reporting that Nottingham Forest are "working on a deal" to sign the 22-year-old for £4.6million.

The Sky Blues were linked with a move for the New Zealand international earlier this month and a deal looked close with Serbian outlet Sportal reporting that Coventry would pay a seven-figure fee to sign the midfielder, but Forest joining the race to sign him has put a spanner in the works for Mark Robins' side.

The plan is for Stamenic to join Forest's sister club Olympiacos on loan next season to gain further first-team experience before coming back into the fold at the City Ground and it looks unlikely that the 22-year-old will become a Sky Blue this summer.

Transfer interest in Marko Stamenic

Coventry were linked with Stamenic earlier this month and it appeared that they would get a deal over the line for the promising midfielder but the Reds' interest and the pull of the Premier League seems to have turned the midfielder's head.

Speaking to Serbian outlet Sport Klub, Crvena Zvezda's general manager, Zvezdan Terzic, explained that they had agreed a fee with Coventry City which would have seen Stamenic move to the Championship, but the player didn't want to move to the second tier of English football.

Terzic said: "We agreed everything, but we did not sign a contract with Coventry because the player did not accept going to the Championship.

"His express desire was the Premier League of England and the club contacted him. We have negotiated, and I hope that tomorrow we will sign everything for the transfer of five and a half million euros.”

Despite the fact that Stamenic will spend the 2024/25 campaign on loan in Greece with Olympiacos as part of the deal with Forest, the promise of playing top-flight football in England was seemingly too much for the Sky Blues to compete with, and they look set to miss out on the midfielder.

Losing out on Stamenic, particularly to another English side, will be frustrating for Coventry, but ultimately, if the player was set on a move to the Premier League, then there's not much they can do.

Had Coventry City been able to get a deal over the line for Stamenic, it would have been a real statement of intent to the rest of the Championship that they meant business this summer.

The 22-year-old New Zealand international impressed for Crvena Zvezda in Serbia last season, helping them lift the Serbian SuperLiga title, and featured prominently in their UEFA Champions League campaign, starting four of their six games, playing the full 90 minutes against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium and scoring against RB Leipzig.

He's also become a mainstay in the starting XI for his national side, and despite only being 22 years old, he has already made 15 appearances for the All Whites, scoring once.

With experience in both the Champions League and on the international stage, there's no doubt that Stamenic would have been a great signing at Championship level, and he's likely to become a better player in the years to come, hence Forest's plan to send him on loan.

Missing out on Stamenic is a blow, and Coventry's scouts and recruitment team will have to move on to their next target as they look to strengthen their side in the coming months.