Nottingham Forest confirmed their fifth summer signing in Aro Muric and some supporters shared their delight on social media. The young goalkeeper joined on a season-long loan from Manchester City and is highly-rated. He’s arrived to compete with Costel Pantilimon, Luke Steele and Jordan Smith for a starting place between the sticks, and many fans are backing him to become Forest’s new No. 1.
GET IN pic.twitter.com/dkTIXvdTfm
— OWEN (@reidynffc_v3) July 9, 2019
Buzzing
— Ryan Bardill (@Ryan_nffc10) July 9, 2019
Pantillimon who’s decent but prone to mistakes so Muric should be a starter I imagine it’ll be in the contract he has to play a certain amount of games anyway
— Aiden (@aiden_nffc) July 9, 2019
Quality signing pic.twitter.com/WLvFGbonly
— Martin Fretwell (@FretwellMartin) July 9, 2019
Brilliant prospect already good enough to play at premier level he’ll only get better with more game time. Played plenty of times for us last season in league cup and rock solid congrats on a great signing.
— Ryan Blockley (@PKS_Media) July 9, 2019
Definitely a great goal keeper
— Marion (@Marion85978609) July 9, 2019
Pantilimon was first-choice in goal under Aitor Karanka and Martin O’Neill last season, keeping 15 clean sheets in 44 Championship appearances, but he was guilty of making errors and often struggled with his distribution. Muric openly stated with his first interview with the Reds that he wants to challenge for the No. 1 jersey. Pep Guardiola granted his move away from City this summer for that exact reason. Muric isn’t at the City Ground to make up the numbers.
He said: “I’m very happy to be here and hope we can achieve a lot this season. I know the Championship quite well and know it’s a really tough league. I’m here to fight for the number-one spot in the team and to make sure I have some game time. I’m very excited that the season is so close now. We need to have a strong pre-season to make sure we’re fit and ready for the first game of the season.”
There may have been some pessimism among supporters when Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane left, but Forest wasted little time bringing in Sabri Lamouchi and strengthening the squad. Muric is the third player through the door in a matter of days and may not be the last. Forest are acting quickly to ensure the squad has gelled in time for the new season.