Nottingham Forest currently sit 15th in the Sky Bet Championship, after what could be described as an average start to the season.

Forest are the 4th highest goal scorers in the division, scoring 23 goals so far this season.

Assombalonga has only three of those goals but everybody in the Championship is aware of how clinical he is in front of goal.

When Assombalonga signed for Forest, much was made of how much they paid for him and whether he could live up to his price tag.

He soon silenced the doubters, scoring 15 goals in his first 32 games.

However, he then sustained a very serious injury which kept him out of action for over a year.

An injury that came at a terrible time for him and Nottingham Forest. His early form had fired Forest up the table but without their main goal scorer, Forest soon fell away.

Assombalonga has been touted for a move to the Premier League in the past and here, FLW's Chris Wilson will look at THREE possible players to replace him if he leaves.....

 

Rudy Gestede

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With the summer arrivals at Aston Villa of Jonathan Kodjia and Ross McCormack, Gestede has found himself further down the pecking order at Villa.

He has a proven track record at Championship level and already has two goals to his name this season.

With Gestede likely to be limited to substitute appearances at Villa, he could seek a move away for regular football.

Having not impressed in the Premier League, it is unlikely a Premier League team will move to sign him so his main options will be in the Championship.

With Forest likely to command a large fee if they are to sell Assombalonga, paying for Gestede shouldn’t be a problem.

Matty Taylor

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The Bristol Rovers hitman has been bang in form over the last year and has already started this season brightly, scoring six goals already.

Taylor has proved he is clinical in League Two and has already showed he can score in League One, so a move to the Championship could be on the cards.

Taylor scored the most goals of anyone in the Football League last season, scoring 27 goals to help fire Bristol Rovers to promotion.

He was wanted by Wigan Athletic in the summer but instead decided to sign a new contract at Bristol Rovers.

This could mean that Rovers would demand a sizeable fee for a League One player but they have taken a risk buying from League One before, in Assombalonga and it paid dividends for them.

Will Grigg

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The Latics hotshot is clinical in front of goal, his goal scoring instinct is something that Forest would be lacking, should they lose Assombalonga.

At 25, Grigg still has room for improvement in his game, so the re-sale value for Forest would still be there.

Grigg already has five goals to his name this season, an impressive return so far, for a team who are struggling down the bottom of the league.

The Latics would be desperate to keep hold of Grigg but given the magnitude of Nottingham Forest as a club, he could be tempted to leave.

Grigg always seems to be in the right place during the box and players who have that ability don’t come cheap so Forest would have to stump up to sign him.