Nottingham Forest have announced the loan signing of Filip Krovinovic from Benfica. The 25-year-old midfielder will link up with the Championship side until the end of the season.
Nottingham Forest Complete Deal for Filip Krovinovic
✍️ Krovi is a Red!#NFFC are delighted to announce the loan signing of Filip Krovinovic from Benfica. https://t.co/xBW7WwytiU
— Nottingham Forest FC 💙 (@NFFC) January 22, 2021
Added Midfield Quality
Krovinovic arrives at the City Ground having been a transfer target for a while. The midfielder was a January target for a number of teams according to reports, with PAOK, Dynamo Zagreb and Olympiacos all interested.
The 25-year-old’s move to Forest is the Reds’ first incoming of the season. They have already sent Tendayi Darikwa and Nicholas Ioannou to Wigan Athletic and Aris Thessaloniki respectively.
Zach Clough, meanwhile, is also expected to make an imminent departure from the City Ground.
The addition of Krovinovic adds quality to a depleted midfield department following a number of injuries.
Harry Arter and Jack Colback remain injured; meanwhile, Ryan Yates was also forced off with a calf injury against Middlesbrough in midweek.
The deal does, however, raise other selection issues. Current EFL regulations stipulate that only five players signed on loan can be named within a matchday squad.
With Cyrus Christie, Anthony Knockaert, Luke Freeman and Cafu all on temporary deals – and possibly more loan signings expected – it will leave Forest fans wondering who will be made to make way for a new arrival.
Manager Chris Hughton said of Krovinovic: “Filip comes with good pedigree and a player we’ve been tracking for a while.
We have found it difficult to get the goals that we’ve needed to win more games so this is an area we’ve been looking to strengthen.
In Filip we have a creative player who played a full season of Championship last year so knows the division. This had a strong bearing in my thinking and, from an offensive point of view, he gives us more options”
