Peter Gulacsi recently emerged as a target for Nott'm Forest
Nottingham Forest held ‘concrete interest’ in signing Peter Gulacsi during the January transfer window, according to the RB Leipzig goalkeeper.
As per The Athletic, manager Nuno Espirito Santo did not feel Nott’m Forest needed to add to their keeper ranks when arriving at the club in December. But after being left unimpressed by existing options Matt Turner and Odysseas Vlachodimos, Nuno soon changed his mind.
Forest then went on a desperate transfer search, reportedly contacting almost 10 different shot-stoppers. In the end, they managed to sign Strasbourg captain Matz Sels, who was on Newcastle United’s books between July 2016 and July 2018.
However, things could have been very different for Forest. Prior to Sels’ capture, it emerged that the East Midlands side were hoping to replace Turner with Gulacsi.
When revealing Forest’s interest in Gulacsi, Fabrizio Romano stated that it would be a tricky deal to pull off as Leipzig did not want to let the 33-year-old leave.
That ultimately proved true, as Forest came up against a brick wall in Leipzig and simply could not strike an agreement, forcing them to go in a different direction by snaring Sels.
In an interview with German outlet Bild, Gulacsi has revealed there was ‘concrete interest from the Premier League’ in him during the winter window. While the Hungarian did not name Forest, he effectively confirmed their pursuit as they were the main English side to be linked with his services last month.
“There was concrete interest from the Premier League,” he said. “But I realised that I would get the chance here at some point. And it was a clear no-go for the club. In this respect, the issue was quickly dealt with by both sides.”
Peter Gulacsi prevented from making Nott’m Forest switch
Gulacsi has since been proven correct, as he started his first Bundesliga game of the season on Sunday after fellow keeper Janis Blaswich was dropped to the bench.
Gulacsi will now be hoping to re-establish himself as first-choice keeper at Leipzig. He captained the side throughout the 2021-22 season but tore his ACL in October 2022 and has mainly had to settle for a place on the bench since returning to full fitness.
Gulacsi moving to Forest last month would have seen him return to the Prem. He was at Liverpool between 2007 and 2013 but did not make any first-team appearances for the Reds as he had a host of loan spells away from Anfield.
