Sunderland Battles Nottingham Forest for Forward With 26 Goal Contributions Last Season

Regis Le Bris' French influence continues to be important at Sunderland, and now they are competing with Nottingham Forest for a Lyon star.

The Black Cats are continuing their ambitious summer transfer window, and after the signing of Habib Diarra (21), coming from RC Strasbourg, they intend to keep strengthening.

It's clear that Sunderland didn't return to the Premier League just on 'vacation', but rather have the objective of staying in England's first division for a long time.

Now, the Black Cats have been linked with a forward who also interests Nottingham Forest.

Sunderland battles Nottingham Forest for Olympique Lyonnais' Georges Mikautadze

According to information from Foot Mercato, Sunderland have shown interest in signing Olympique Lyonnais striker Georges Mikautadze (24).

Some English sources assure us that Sunderland, who have been promoted to the Premier League, are keeping a close eye on him.Foot Mercato

The cited media explains that Eintracht Frankfurt from the Bundesliga, plus clubs in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, are also watching the Georgian's situation.

Mikautadze was one of Lyon's biggest recent signings, bought for around €18.5 million from Metz.

However, Olympique Lyonnais' situation changed after a review by the DNCG, the financial body that regulates football in France, saw the team administratively relegated to Ligue 2.

Although the club will appeal, the situation is quite uncertain, and multiple players are already working on resolving their futures very soon.

Republicain Lorrain also mentions Nottingham Forest as another Premier League team interested in signing Mikautadze. We have to take into account that John Textor, co-owner and former president of Lyon, has a close relationship with Evangelos Marinakis, owner of Nottingham Forest, and this has been reflected in multiple transfer agreements.

Therefore, Sunderland are far from being alone in the race to sign the Georgian forward, who registered 26 goal contributions with Lyon last season (17 goals and 9 assists) in all competitions.

We will have to wait to know with certainty the future of Lyon's striker, but surely there will be news soon. All teams want to conclude their operations quickly, and Sunderland are no exception.

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