Nottingham Forest have joined the race to sign Siriki Dembele and have launched a loan-to-buy bid for the Peterborough United attacker, according to Football Insider.

The 24-year-old joined Posh from Grimsby Town in the summer of 2018 and has been one of the standout players in League One this season, scoring six times, whilst adding five assists to help put Darren Ferguson's team into promotion contention, although his contract expires in June.

Dembele handed in a transfer request earlier this month in a bid to force a move away from London Road, but has continued to be picked by Ferguson, and scored in their recent EFL Trophy victory over Portsmouth.

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Brentford and Fulham have also been interested in signing Dembele, although Forest have tabled a loan offer, which would see the attacker move to the City Ground for the remainder of the campaign before joining permanently.

Football Insider believe the bid from Chris Hughton's side is around £250,000, although they face competition from a number of sides, including both Celtic and Rangers.

The Verdict

I really like the sound of this for Forest.

Dembele has been an excellent player at League One level for a number of seasons, and it always appeared a matter of time before a Championship opportunity would come knocking.

He'd face stiff competition for a starting place from the likes of Alex Mighten, Sammy Ameobi and Anthony Knockaert, but the City Ground would be a good fit - with Dembele ticking a number of boxes from a Forest perspective.