Who is Oumar Gonzalez? The seven-figure Nottingham Forest transfer target

Who is he? Will Forest re-ignite that transfer interest in the summer? And what has been said about him and any summer move?

Sabri Lamouchi's Nottingham Forest reportedly had a seven-figure offer for promising defender Oumar Gonzalez turned down in January.

French newspaper Le Parisien claim the Reds made that bid for him during the winter transfer window, and the team’s president says the Cameroonian has a string of admirers.

But who is he? Will Forest re-ignite that transfer interest in the summer? And what has been said about him and any summer move?

Who is he?

The 22-year-old central defender currently plays for French Ligue 2 side Chambly after making the switch from Metz during the summer.

So far this season he has made 23 appearances in the league, scoring once with his club now placed tenth in the second division.

Born in Cameroon, Gonzalez moved to France as a youngster and started his youth career in Marseille.

He is a tall and powerful central defender and is not one to shy away from a big tackle.

In 2019, he made his debut for Cameroon's under-23s side and has been capped three times for that age group.

Who else is interested in him

According to his current clubs, a host of Italian Serie A teams have shown an interested in his impressive performances this season, the very same performances that are said to have caught the eye of Lamouchi.

The club have also mentioned interest from the Dutch Eredivisie and Turkey's Superlig.

But Forest have also been linked with his services and are reported to have seen a seven-figure sum rejected during January.

What has been said about him?

“We had offers from an Italian Serie A club and Turkish and Dutch D1 clubs,” Chambly president Fulvio Luzi has said as he spoke about the interest in his defender.

“But the biggest offer was sent to us by a Championship club. It was a seven-digit offer. We refused it.

“On the other hand, I think that it will be difficult to retain him next summer because we will have other offers for him if he has a second part of the season as good as the first.”

“Several English clubs are interested, including one in the race for the rise to the Premier League,” said Luzi.

“We will study the offer, we will discuss it with Oumar. For the moment, these are just contacts.”

What has Gonzalez said about Forest's interest?

“When you are a professional footballer you do not know what tomorrow is made of,” Gonzalez said when asked about the interest from Forest.

“It is true that England is a championship that I really appreciate, it’s a bit my style in duels and contacts.

“It’s one of my dreams to play there," he said.

"But I am under contract with Chambly.”