Nottingham Forest is strongly considering Aston Villa’s academy graduate, Jacob Ramsey, as confirmed to Softfootball.
The Athletic reported that Ramsey, 23, has been a major subject of discussion at the City Ground after the newly promoted Europa League side sought to replace Morgan Gibbs-White, who is close to leaving the club for Tottenham, following in the footsteps of fellow player Anthony Elanga.
With Spurs’ £60 million approach for Gibbs-White earlier this month, Forest seems to have all it takes to secure the services of the England international.
Ramsey, a Villa academy graduate, was previously courted by Tottenham last summer, but no agreement was reached. Now, Nottingham Forest are keen to bring him in as part of their attacking reshuffle, following the £52 million sale of Anthony Elanga to Newcastle and the imminent exit of winger Ramon Sosa.
Meanwhile, the sale of Ramsey might look like a cavalry and point of profit for Villa, who are trying to follow UEFA’s squad cost ratio guidelines. The West Midlands club was fined earlier this summer for breaching those financial sustainability rules and is still looking to reduce its wage-to-turnover ratio below the 70% threshold.
However, letting go of Ramsey won’t be a straightforward decision. He qualifies as a club-trained player and would count towards Villa’s homegrown quota in the Europa League, where squad registration rules are strict. And Manager Unai Emery is also a strong admirer of Ramsey, who made 45 appearances across all competitions last season.
Meanwhile, Villa would prefer to offload other squad members, including Leon Bailey, Leander Dendoncker and Alex Moreno, before sanctioning any move for Ramsey.
As earlier reported by Softfootball, Forest have already added Igor Jesus from Botafogo this summer and remain keen on Brentford forward Yoane Wissa. But Ramsey is now among the club’s top priorities, and talks are expected to progress quickly if Villa softens their stance.
Nottingham Forest, for their part, sees the England U21 international as a profile fit for their recruitment strategy: young, versatile, and with room to grow. Ramsey is capable of playing as a No. 10 or out wide on the left and could slot into the role vacated by Gibbs-White under Nuno Espirito Santo, who places high value on multi-functional players.
