‘Pursued’ – Nottingham Forest And Tottenham Stars Were Chased, Fitted ‘Being Struggling’ Criteria | OneFootball

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Lyon explored signing Tottenham Hotspur forward Mathys Tel and Nottingham Forest striker Arnaud Kalimuendo before agreeing a deal for Juventus’ Lois Openda.

Les Gones have been looking to sign a new attacker, with the criteria they are players with the traits of ‘being struggling’ at their current clubs, that they speak French and are potentially available on loan.

Openda is the man who is set now to move to Lyon, on loan from Juventus for a loan fee of €3m and with the Italians covering a big portion of his €8m per year salary.

The attacker has been linked with Coventry City and Leeds United this summer, but is bound for Lyon instead.

Lyon though ‘pursued’ Tottenham’s Tel and Nottingham Forest’s Kalimuendo, along with Openda, according to French sports daily L’Equipe, as the pair fitted their profile.

While Tel and Kalimuendo both fit the bill for Lyon, interest did not progress and now Openda will look to get his career back on track in France.

Tel’s future is increasingly coming under the scanner despite Tottenham not making additions in the final third yet.

Spurs have been linked with a number of attacking options, including Rafael Leao, who is suggested to be intrigued by the idea of moving to N17.

Kalimuendo’s future at Nottingham Forest is uncertain, following the end of his loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Bundesliga side were keen to keep hold of him, however the option to buy price was deemed to be too high.

Kalimuendo could yet get another chance at Nottingham Forest, with a new manager in the building in the shape of Oliver Glasner.

Glasner got Jean-Philippe Mateta’s career back on track at Crystal Palace after he struggled to score goals and could potentially do the same with Kalimuendo.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s interest has not gone away though and the Bundesliga side are likely to make another attempt to bring Kalimuendo back to Germany.