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Opinion: Nottingham Forest could sign Celtic man to solve defensive crisis

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Martin O’Neill is expected to shop for a right-back this summer as Nottingham Forest only have Tendayi Darikwa who can operate in the role. Saidy Janko and Sam Byram returned to FC Porto and West Ham United after season-long loan spells at the City Ground, so one or two players could be brought in the opposite direction and Celtic’s Mikael Lustig could be a decent signing.

The 32-year-old has made 276 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops, scoring (21) and creating (40) 61 goals. Lustig could be on his way out of Parkhead this summer, however, as his contract expires in the coming weeks. Despite his featuring in 44 games in 2018/19, the Swedish international struggled for consistency and may not command a starting place next season.

Lustig started only three of Celtic’s last nine Scottish Premiership games of the campaign, racking up 254 minutes of playing time. He could be a shrewd short-term option for Forest, but the Hoops are in talks over an extension. Given Lustig has spent seven years at Parkhead and is regarded as a legend of Celtic, he might be hard to lure away.

There’s no suggestion that an approach is coming from Forest, but he’d be a useful backup player nevertheless.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.