Nottingham Forest have already turned down a £35m offer for Brentford's Brennan Johnson. Credit: Getty Images/Christian Kaspar-Bartke
Chelsea have begun talks to sign homegrown Nottingham Forest star Brennan Johnson, who failed in their bid to sign Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Michael Olize, who instead opted to agree a new deal with the club .
Huge investment in Players continue to play for Chelsea, though not with 21-year-old Oliza, the French under-21 international who was their top choice for the position. Chelsea co-owner Todd Boeli is known to have contacted forest owner Evangelos Marinakis during preliminary talks.
Olize Palace's future was secured this week when club chairman Steve Parish announced on his Instagram on Thursday that the player had agreed a new deal. Olize, now injured, previously had one foot out the door.
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Olize is believed to have received a £35m release fee two years ago under an agreement to move to the Palace from Reading. By agreeing to sell left-footed fullback and midfielder Lewis Hall, 18, to Newcastle United, Chelsea's relentless summer is likely to continue with 22-year-old Johnson among the real targets.
The striker, who can play in a variety of attacking positions, is a key selling asset for Forest, who are also forced to comply with the Premier League's profit and sustainability (PSR) rules after a massive outlay on 30 new players last summer. This means that offers of over £50m for Johnson must be considered – as with Hall and Chelsea, Johnson will represent a net income on the balance sheet for Forest according to their PSR.
There are many options. As for Johnson, his Premier League adaptation in the second half of the season impressed those clubs who followed his progress in Forest's last season. West Ham are also interested in Johnson and the club turned down two bids from Brentford for the player, the second of which was a club record £35m. Brentford made three offers to Johnson when Forest were still in the league.
Johnson started at Arsenal in Forest's first defeat. In contrast, Forest manager Steve Cooper found that his own club's trading activity was severely curtailed this summer, and the loss of Johnson as a fan favorite would be a major blow.
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