Bellamy's Cardiff may open door for Forest to sign Whittingham
THE shock capture of Craig Bellamy by Cardiff City could open the door for Nottingham Forest to finally land winger Peter Whittingham.
Striker Bellamy, the Welsh international skipper, has joined his hometown club on a season-long loan from Manchester City.
The 31-year-old becomes the Bluebirds' fourth addition of the summer and significantly bolsters their attacking options.
But the cash-strapped club have also been hit by the threat of a winding-up order from Motherwell, who claim they are still owed £175k from the sale of Paul Quinn.
Both Leicester City and Middlesbrough have been strongly linked with a move for Whittingham in recent days, but the Post understands that there is no foundation in either rumour.
And, while Cardiff may hope to inspire a bidding war for the player, who is out of contract in the summer, Forest remain the only club to have officially made an offer for the 25-year-old.
The Reds are happy to remain patient but are hopeful that they can still do business before the window closes, with Cardiff unlikely to want to risk losing the player for nothing next summer, having already lost prize asset Joe Ledley to Celtic on a similar basis in July.
And, while they are only paying a tiny portion of Bellamy's wages, that could still amount to £10k a week.
When added to the contributions they must make towards the wages of fellow loan signings Jason Koumas (Wigan), Seyi Olofinjana (Hull) and Daniel Drinkwater of Manchester United, the Cardiff wage bill is growing.
They may be prepared to offload Whittingham to help address that.
Forest also remain hopeful of signing Swansea midfielder Darren Pratley.
Swans' boss Brendan Rodgers remains steadfast that the midfielder will only be sold to a top-flight club.
But he admits they are struggling to persuade Pratley to sign a new contract.
"If Darren is going to leave, it has to be for a Premier League club," said Rodgers. "I have pushed really hard for him to sign a new deal.
"The board have worked very hard to offer the best possible deal, and if that's not enough than that's where we are. I expect he will be here for the rest of the season and I want my best players playing."
Pratley, 25, has netted two goals in three games already for Swansea this season and Reds boss Billy Davies believes he could be an invaluable driving force in the centre of the pitch for Forest.
Forest Reserves play Sheffield United Reserves at Bramall Lane tonight (7pm).
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by mandy, southwell
Friday, August 20 2010, 2:33PM
“i hear luicester are signing emile heskey,thats the kind of player we need,quick,skillful and get you 30 goals a season.”
by Lord, Radford
Friday, August 20 2010, 4:44AM
“http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1304572/Nottingham-Forest-hold-talks-Cardiff-winger-Peter-Whittingham-1-8m-move.html”
by redweaver, nottingham
Thursday, August 19 2010, 12:29PM
“why do people continue to say billy is doing a good job with what he has got.
he simply isn't- he just isn't. 7 million spent on players he wanted. how much does he need?
a manager works with what he has got, thats the tell tale sign that he's a good manager, not that he can spend money on players and then bring success.
i know i sound like a tw*t saying blackpool did it, but there are other examples. are their manager's better than ours? you say no! i say maybe.
i don't care what he has done else where; here, last year he had an opportunity to reach the premier league and he blew it, for whatever reason, who cares what the reason is, he blew it.
i'm not going to tell you how or where because everyone can point to something but (on a psychological level) telling a bunch of people (who are performing) that they are not good enough is going to have a negative effect. anyone doubting need only look at the sociological studies on the subject.
effort from the players is down to billy if ha can't motivate them then it's also his difficiency as well as the players.”
by redweaver, nottingham
Thursday, August 19 2010, 12:29PM
“why do people continue to say billy is doing a good job with what he has got.
he simply isn't- he just isn't. 7 million spent on players he wanted. how much does he need?
a manager works with what he has got, thats the tell tale sign that he's a good manager, not that he can spend money on players and then bring success.
i know i sound like a tw*t saying blackpool did it, but there are other examples. are their manager's better than ours? you say no! i say maybe.
i don't care what he has done else where; here, last year he had an opportunity to reach the premier league and he blew it, for whatever reason, who cares what the reason is, he blew it.
i'm not going to tell you how or where because everyone can point to something but (on a psychological level) telling a bunch of people (who are performing) that they are not good enough is going to have a negative effect. anyone doubting need only look at the sociological studies on the subject.
effort from the players is down to billy if ha can't motivate them then it's also his difficiency as well as the players.”
by rocket red, beeston
Thursday, August 19 2010, 12:09PM
“cannot see whittingham or pratley coming to forest, i hope im wrong but i think we've missed the chance now.lets be realistic with players such as mccleary,adebola,tyson,mcgoldrick none of them have been consistent.
we had a great chance last season against blackpool and poor finishing cost us again and the lack of january signing cost us dearly.
Forest will finish outside the top 6 this season with the current squad i dont blame billy he is doing all he can with what he has got, without new players mid table finish much tougher this season
uuuuuuu reds!”