Nottingham Forest make an attractive bid for West Ham target, with the club willing to sell.

Fiorentina star Nikola Milenkovic has been strongly linked with a move to Nottingham Forest despite being on the radar of West Ham for some time.

Milenkovic has been the subject of very public interest from West Ham which has helped him become to the top earner at the Serie A club.

On top of the interest from West Ham and Nottingham Forest, there have also been grumblings of Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Fulham considering him as an option in the current window.

Forest are believed to have submitted a bid to sign Milenkovic with Fiorentina giving the offer some consideration as they weigh up the impact of maintaining the centre-back’s wages.

While Milenkovic remains a key player for Viola his annual net salary of €3.3 million (gross €6 million) is a significant burden for the club and an obstacle to them building for the future.

Independent valuations of the Serbian put his price tag at about €15m while the offer from Forest has come in some €2 million short of that mark according to sources in Italy.

Milenkovic, who appeared in all three of Serbia’s group matches at the European Championship, could be set for a medical at the City Ground as soon as next week if negotiations continue to progress at their current pace.

Nottingham Forest have identified areas of weakness

Centre-back is one of the key positions where Forest need to reinforce and the club could be set for a busy transfer window of wheeling and dealing.

Nuno Espírito Santo is keen to make more signings ahead of his first full season in charge at the Midlands club.

He has warned against making signings for the own sake and said that the club would need to make smart moves in the summer window.

Santo admitted that Forest are in desperate need of natural wingers but felt that wasn’t the only area they need to reinforce ahead of the new campaign.

“We need more [signings]. Not too many, but I think we still need some things,” Santo said after Forest’s win over Chesterfield in a friendly on Saturday.

“Everyone can see we need wingers. The only natural wingers we have are Callum [Hudson-Odoi] and Anthony [Elanga].

“You always have to add the right pieces, there is no point in bringing [players] in just because. We need to nail everything down on the players we bring in.”