(Football news) Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of Huddersfield defender Harry Toffolo. The 26-year-old left-back had an impressive season in the Championship with Huddersfield last season, as they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Forest in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. He is expected to join Forest with fellow Huddersfield player Lewis O’Brien, also undergoing medicals over the last 24 hours.
Having progressed through the youth academy at Norwich City, Toffolo had loan moves to Swindon, Rotherham, Peterborough, Scunthorpe and Doncaster. He built up his reputation at Lincoln City before eventually moving to Huddersfield in 2020. Toffolo's signing is expected to be followed by that of O'Brien, with Forest having agreed a £10 million fee for the duo. Forest this summer transfer window have already signed Taiwo Awoniyi, Giulian Biancone, Moussa Niakhate, Omar Richards, Neco Williams, Wayne Hennessey and Brandon Aguilera on permanent deals. Dean Henderson also joined on a season-long loan from Manchester United.
Forest were looking at alternative left-back targets as the likes of Real Betis star Alex Moreno was one player Forest have been in contact with. It looked like the deal for Toffolo was going to collapse but the former Bradford loanee had passed a medical and conducted media duties to announce his arrival at the City Ground. O'Brien, on the other hand is expected to be unveiled on Tuesday as Forest are renegotiating a separate deal for the player who will sign a new contract until 2025, thus protecting the player’s value. It is understood that a release clause in the contract was triggered by Forest.
Harry Toffolo said “I'm extremely delighted to be here, to be able to join a football club with this much stature is fantastic and to have the opportunity to play in the Premier League is something I couldn't turn down, “We want to push forward in this division. We'll push each other every day and we've got a fantastic squad being put together.I'm a player who wears his heart on his sleeve and I'm someone that will fight for the badge and for the team every single minute."
Head coach Steve Cooper said: “Harry is an excellent addition to the squad and adds quality and depth to a position that we were keen to strengthen this summer.We saw first-hand last season how effective Harry can be from wide positions and he's also a player that wants to continue his improvement.”
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