Exclusive: Nottingham Forest Eye Lazio's Mattia Zaccagni as Gibbs-White Attracts Man City Interest

Nottingham Forest are ready to swoop for Mattia Zaccagni, one of Serie A’s most sought-after midfielders as Morgan Gibbs-White is predicted to leave the City Ground this summer, SportsBoom can reveal.

After emerging as one of the most influential members of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Champions League chasing squad, Gibbs-White is attracting attention from Manchester City and a number of teams abroad.

Although the former Wolverhampton Wanderers star will not agitate for a move away from the east Midlands - particularly if Forest achieve a top five finish following Sunday’s game against Chelsea, Nuno and other senior figures at Forest are aware the lure of working under Pep Guardiola will prove difficult for Gibbs-White to resist.

Mattia Zaccagni, capped 10 times by Italy, is understood to feature on a long list of possible replacements being considered by the Portuguese and his head of recruitment Pedro Ferreira. 

Previously of Hellas Verona, Zaccagni has netted 10 times in 47 appearances for Lazio since August. 

TACTICALLY DISCIPLINED

Crucially, given Nuno’s demand for tactically disciplined and hard-working players, he would fit seamlessly into a team which has defied all expectations this term and reduce the need for a major reorganisation of the starting eleven should Gibbs-White depart.

Despite being under contract until 2029, it would take less than half of the £70m Forest are likely to demand from City before entering into negotiations to prise Zaccagni away from Rome. 

Forest guaranteed themselves a place in either the Europa League or Conference League next season after drawing with Leicester City earlier this month. 

But, with only one game of the top-flight campaign remaining, they can still qualify for Europe’s premier competition if they beat Enzo Maresca’s side this weekend and other results go their way.