Can Fulham or Nottingham Forest sign Europe’s best player this season?

Nottingham Forest have impressed since their return to the Premier League, showing great resilience against difficult opponents and defending with the determination necessary to survive in the top flight.

At the same time, Fulham performed well in the 2022/23 European Qualifiers and easily avoided relegation.

They were inspired by star forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, who they later sold to the Saudi Professional League for a tidy profit. The Ranchos never replaced him, and now they’re in trouble without a reliable shooter.

Meanwhile, Forest are showing signs of getting stronger in the 2023/24 season, with the Bundesliga investment in Taiwo Awoniyi paying off up front.

The former Union Berlin standout has made a strong start to the 2023/24 season with 3 goals and 2 assists.

However, Forest appear to have their sights on more attacking firepower in the league, knowing of its exciting attacking football, and that could come in the form of a potentially more prolific forward. The Cottagers are looking for goals and they’re right there.

Nottingham Forest and Fulham have shown interest in VfB Stuttgart striker Serhu Gilasi, who is out for the 2023/24 Bundesliga season, according to Bild’s Christian Falk and Julian Agadi. It’s been a bit of a rough start in the league.

Even better, his release clause is only 20 million euros, which both clubs can easily afford.

How ridiculous? Gilasi just scored a hat trick this weekend, his second of the season and fifth in seven games.

Gilasi scored a total of 13 goals, averaging nearly two goals per game. The 27-year-old is the kind of late-break forward prospect we’ve never seen before.

No one in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more goals than Gilasi, but the crazy thing is, it’s not just about his goals.

Gilasi also averaged two key passes and drew 2.6 fouls per game. He only failed to score in one game, a 2-0 win over Cologne.

In that game, Gilasi created four chances for his teammates and drew four fouls. In other words, he was great without scoring.

Whether Gilasi can maintain such a hot streak is unknown, but his hot streak has already seen him score a season’s worth of goals in seven games. No one scored 20 goals in the Bundesliga last season.

This season, at this pace, Gilasi could be just three games away from equaling 2022/23’s leading scorers, Niklas Felkruger and Christopher Nkunku. Incidentally, both players secured major transfers in the summer.

Forest currently sit firmly in 13th place, far away from the Premier League relegation battle. Can you imagine if they signed Gilasi in the winter and he could keep up this pace?

Forest will eventually become one of the best strikers in the world, not just the biggest breakout star in the early months of the season.

How about Fulham? If they can sign a striker with Gilasi, wouldn’t that be enough to send shockwaves through Europe as long as this move isn’t a mirage?

They are down a bit from where they were for much of last season, but not far from the top half.

There are a lot of “ifs” here, and Gilasi and his agent must have been smart enough to know that it would take a full season to get a deal done.

They can make a lot of money because the club can pay them directly whatever is left after the release clause. You know, like Erling Haaland did against Manchester City.

But Forest and Fulham would be wise to get into the game early. you will never know. Perhaps Awoniyi and Gilasi can form the next great Premier League forward pairing in 2024/25. Forest fans can dream, right?

As for Fulham, they have a good supporting cast. A player like Gilasi can also improve those around him, as he has created chances for Stuttgart so far. Fulham fans have the right to dream too.