(Football news) Watford are close to selling Emmanuel Dennis to Nottingham Forest having agreed a £20m deal for the striker Emmanuel Dennis. Forest have been on a massive recruitment spurge following promotion to the Premier League. They are still keen to improve Steve Cooper's squad to ensure that the club does not return straight back to the Championship.

The Nigerian striker scored 10 league goals in 35 appearances for Watford last season. He only scored two in his final 17 games after his blistering early season start but the Hornets were eventually relegated. He has started both of Watford's games so far in the Championship this term but is yet to find the net and did not feature in Watford's 1-0 win over Burnley on Friday. Forest are close to signing Atalanta midfielder Remo Freuler and have begun talks with former Crystal Palace midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate.

The Nigerian international impressed everyone in his first Premier League season last campaign as he was linked with numerous Premier League clubs. He was scouted by Manchester United scouts as well but they instead chose to bid for Marko Arnautovic. If the Super Eagles star could perform well in a poor team that got relegated instantly, he would have contributed much more in a team like Manchester United where he would have been surrounded by quality players but he ultimately chose Forest as United did not show any concrete interest in the player. In fact, Dennis contributed 50% of Watford's total Premier League goals last season as he scored or assisted 16 of their 32 total league appearances.

But asked about potential signings, boss Cooper said: "Until we get a player over the line there's no point in talking. It is no secret we are actively looking for players, we have been linked with more players than is actually true. [We've made] progress on some of them, others not really. We are still in that process of bringing players in and moving some out as well. It has been going on for a while and it will continue until the window closes."

Also read: Remo Freuler is set to join Nottingham Forest for €9m