Roma centre-back Jan Ziolkowski has emerged as a potential transfer target for Nottingham Forest ahead of the summer window officially opening.
The Reds have a couple of weeks to go before they can begin doing business again. Premier League clubs will have from June 15 to September 1 to tweak their squads for the 2026/27 campaign.
Head coach Vitor Pereira has stated his desire for Forest to oversee the bulk of any incomings and outgoings early on in the summer. The Portuguese is keen to have as much time as possible to work with the core of his group.
Defence is likely to be one area where the Reds assess their options in preparation for the new term. According to Italian publication Siamo La Roma, Ziolkowski is on the club’s radar.
Little more than 12 months after the 20-year-old joined Roma from Legia Warszawa, for a fee in the region of €6-7 million (£5-6m), he could be on the move again. Forest are said to have verbally “expressed interest” in him but there is reportedly a valuation gap between the two teams.
Roma have placed a €20m (£17m) price tag on the Poland international’s head. The Reds are said to value him at €15m (£13m), including bonuses, but it is claimed they could push “close to” what the Serie A outfit are targeting.
Bournemouth were said to have shown an interest in Ziolkowski but have since turned attention to other options. Brighton and Hove Albion have also been linked but “don’t consider the player a priority”.
Signing young players with the potential to improve and increase in value has been a feature of recent transfer windows at Forest. They already have a couple of young defenders on the books in Jair Cunha and Tyler Bindon, along with academy graduate Zach Abbott.
Bindon spent the season just gone on loan at Sheffield United, leaving a decision to be made about his next step. Jair and Abbott both saw some game time in the Garibaldi in 2025/26, with the former arguably now ahead of Morato in the pecking order.
Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic have established themselves as first-choice centre-back pairing for the club. The former is not short of admirers but recently penned a new deal to keep him tied down until 2030.
One centre-back almost certain to move on this summer is Willy Boly. The 35-year-old is out of contract at the City Ground and has not featured for the Reds since September.
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