Nottingham Forest close to making long-time Arsenal target Houssem Aouar their 18th signing of the summer

Nottingham Forest are close to making four more signings, one of which is Lyon midfielder and long-time target Houssem Aouar.

Having confirmed the signings of forward Emmanuel Dennis from and defensive midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate from on Saturday night, Forest have now officially signed 14 players this summer, but that number looks set to rise to a staggering 18.

Brighton striker Neal Maupay is set to move to the City Ground in a deal upwards of £15million, and reports that Atalanta’s Remo Freuler will also join Steve Cooper’s side, while another Swiss midfielder in the form of Frankfurt’s Dijbril Sow is also heavily linked.

And the latest news, courtesy of , is that Aouar is also close to signing for Forest, having been linked with a move to the Premier League for several years.

Arsenal have long held an interest in the playmaker, who has scored 40 goals and made 35 assists in 215 games for Lyon, and the French international has now entered the last year of his contract with the Ligue 1 side.

Aouar’s signing suggests that Forest have ended their pursuit of Wolves midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White who has been consistently linked with a move away from Molineux this summer.

Forest are embarking on their first Premier League campaign in 23 years having won promotion via the play-offs last season, something that the club were not entirely prepared for.

As such Copper and co. have taken drastic measures, spending upwards of £100m in a desperate attempt to strengthen their squad and avoid an immediate relegation back to the Championship.

Among their notable acquisitions are attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard, left-back Omar Richards, and goalkeeper Dean Henderson on loan from Manchester United.

Forest’s return to the top-flight did not get off to the best of starts as they lost 2-0 at Newcastle last week but they have a chance to get their first points on the board when they host West Ham on Sunday.

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