Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of the striker Arnaud Kalimuendo from Rennes for a fee of around £26million.
The Tricky Trees have taken their summer spending up a gear with the start of the new Premier League season, with Kalimuendo the latest to put pen to paper and bringing up a total of more than £140m thus far.
The 23-year-old moves to Nottingham from Rennes, where he scored 18 goals last season and a further four assists in his 34 appearances last term.
Sharing that he was ‘honoured’ to have received attention from Forest due to their ‘great history’, Kalimuendo became the seventh star to have joined up with Nuno Espirito Santo during the summer transfer window.
On the eve of the first weekend of top-flight action, Nuno cut a frustrated figure in an interview with Sky Sports, insisting that despite his recruitment of goalkeeper Ange Gunn, and Igor Jesus, Dan Ndoye, and Jair Cunha, there were still holes in his side ahead of the campaign to come.
‘We are very far – very, very far – from where we should be. We are very far in terms of preparation, in terms of planning, in terms of the squad,’ Nuno said on Friday morning.
Nottingham Forest have signed Arnaud Kalimeuendo during their summer spending spree
Nuno Espirito Santo had stressed his concern that his side were far off competitive level
‘So we are all very worried that in two or three days time we are playing for the Premier League, the most demanding competition in the world. And we are very far. Very, very far.’
But Forest showed no sign of summer-break fatigue in their opener, as they overturned a lacklustre Brentford 3-1 – with Ndoye scoring one of their goals.
Away from the pitch, Forest were also making crucial moves in the window, securing former Chelsea starlet Omari Hutchinson from Ipswich for a club-record sale of £37.5m, and a swoop for Manchester City’s James McAtee for a further £30m.
Forest are not thought to be content yet, however, with Evangelos Marinakis’ club eyeing a move for another Manchester star in Rico Lewis.
Lewis made 44 appearances in all competitions under Pep Guardiola last term – and is six shy of a century of games for the club – but has fallen behind Matheus Nunes in the pecking order at right back.
City had been looking to tie the youngster down to a new deal, and marked those negotiations as a priority going into the summer, but have not managed to finalise terms.
Forest might also bring in another star on loan in Juventus’ Douglas Luiz, should the midfielder look for a return to the Premier League after leaving former club Aston Villa in 2024.
Upon signing Kalimuendo, Forest’s chief football officer Ross Wilson paid tribute to the late business that the club are conducting with no little efficiency.
‘It’s been a busy few days for us – the culmination of a lot hard work from our start over a number of weeks,’ Wilson said.
‘(Kalimuendo is) arriving with real excitement and big energy and we look forward to seeing that on the pitch.’
