Nottingham Forest are preparing a second approach in an attempt to bring Sampdoria star Emil Audero to the Premier League this summer, according to reports.
Who is Emil Audero?
Audero is a goalkeeper who currently plies his trade at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium having completed his permanent move there back in 2019 following a successful loan spell from Juventus, as per Transfermarkt. Across both periods, he’s gone on to establish himself as Andrea Pirlo’s official number one between the sticks.
The 6 foot 3 colossus, who is eligible to internationally play for both Italy and Indonesia, still has another three years to run on his contract in the Serie A, but having emerged as his club’s overall second best-performing player last season with a WhoScored match rating of 6.78, he’s attracted the attention of Steve Cooper, and not for the first time.
Back in March, the 26-year-old revealed that he rejected the opportunity to move to the Midlands at the start of the new year to help his side in their relegation battle, but Italian outlet Il Mattino recently revealed that the Reds have once again revived their interest.
Are Nottingham Forest signing Emil Audero?
According to Samp News 24 (via Sport Witness), Nottingham Forest still "like" Audero and are in the process of "studying the strategy" of tabling a second offer during the ongoing summer transfer window. Sampdoria failed to maintain their league status so the goalkeeper could therefore depart should his side receive a "convincing offer", though it's currently unknown as to what kind of figure it would take to prise him away.
Overseas, Lazio, Inter Milan, Fiorentina, Empoli and Bologna are the other admirers "in the mix", and it's stated that should the English outfit miss out on securing his services, they have highlighted Spezia Calcio's Bartlomiej Dragowski as a "plan B" option.
How good is Emil Audero?
Due to Sampdoria’s disappointing campaign which saw them get relegated, Audero only managed to keep five clean sheets across all competitions but journalist Josh Bunting believes that he was the club’s “player of the season” for his outstanding personal displays, and he certainly looks like an upgrade on both Dean Henderson and Keylor Navas of 2022/23.
Sponsored by Nike, the £27k-per-week earner made 82 saves from 121 shots on target against, giving him a success rate of 71.9% which was significantly higher than the Paris Saint Germain star’s 66.3% and the Manchester United figure’s 65.9%, not to mention that he kept out two penalties.
The Mataram City native also has an extremely strong range of passing having completed 100% of his short-length attempts and 99.2% of his medium-length passes, so his accuracy is impeccable and it’s obvious he has an eye for picking out balls to his outfield peers.
Finally, Audero was deservedly recognised for indiviual performances during the previous term by being named man-of-the-match on five occassions which highlights just how important and how much of a positive impact that he has on the side. Should he have a change of heart if a second proposal were to be made, it would be a massive boost for Cooper.
