Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka is ready to raid his former club Middlesbrough and sign midfield duo, according to the print edition of the Daily Mirror reported via the Sky Sports News Paper Talk page.

Nottingham Forest's new boss is hoping to bring Adam Clayton and Grant Leadbitter to his new club.

Karanka was promoted with Middlesbrough back in the 2015/16 season but was sacked with the club in danger of relegation in the Premier League.

The Spaniard has been out of the job ever since but has now taken up the vacant post at Nottingham Forest after Mark Warburton was dismissed last month.

Karanka is already looking at bringing in new players in the January transfer window with Middlesbrough duo Clayton and Leadbitter interesting him.

He worked with both players at Boro and is keen on reuniting with them at The City Ground.

Clayton has been with Boro since his move from Huddersfield in 2014 and his presence in central midfield has been an integral part of their success.

However, earlier this season, the 29-year-old was frozen out by Garry Monk and did not feature at all from the end of November until his sacking.

Since Pulis has come in, Clayton has been given two substitute cameos in the last two games.

Leadbitter, on the other hand, is captain of Boro and has racked up well over 200 appearances since joining the club in 2012.

The Verdict

Both Clayton and Leadbitter are experienced heads who would add a lot for Nottingham Forest. Forest have got a lot of young talent and they probably need some experienced players in the squad to balance things out and help develop the young players into even better performers. But wages could be a stumbling block to this move.