By now, news of transfer interest in Nottingham Forest winger Brennan Johnson is unlikely to come as much of a surprise to anyone familiar with the Championship.

Johnson has been a key figure in Forest's remarkable rise since the appointment of Steve Cooper as manager in September.

The Wales international has scored 15 goals and provided ten assists in 42 league games this season, to help turn Forest from basement dwellers to automatic promotion contenders in a matter of months.

At 20-years-old, Johnson also has the vast majority of his career ahead of him, meaning he is an obvious target for clubs looking to secure the future of a long term asset.

Indeed, that has already been the case, with a number of Premier League clubs heavily linked with the winger in the January transfer window.

However, Johnson has remained a Forest player for the time being, but with little more than a year to go on his contract at The City Ground, he does look to be an obvious target for top-flight clubs to aim for in the summer.

But while up until now, that interest has come from the Premier League, it appears Johnson's appeal is starting to grow even further, with reports from The Independent this week claiming that La Liga outfit Villarreal are also interested in the winger.

Now although that may seem a less obvious move than a step up to the Premier League next season for Johnson, it is hard not to feel as though it is a move that should be worth considering for the Welshman.

For starters, even coming from the Championship, Johnson should be confident about getting the opportunities he needs should he make the switch to El Madrigal.

Arnaut Danjuma made a similar switch to Villarreal last summer, after impressing in a similar wide role to Johnson in helping Bournemouth to the Championship play-offs, and has now been given a chance to thrive in the Spanish top-flight, something he has certainly taken.

Since making that move, Danjuma has made 33 appearances across all competitions for Villarreal this season, scoring 16 goals and providing four assists in that time.

Given Johnson has made a similar impact in the Championship this season to what Danjuma did in the previous campaign, there is little reason for the current Forest man not to believe that he could do the same for Villarreal.

If he was to do that, then he would be doing so for a team that is capable of competing with and beating some of the best in the world, with Villarreal having spectacularly knocked out both Juventus and Bayern Munich on their way to the semi finals of this season's Champions League, after their Europa League title during the previous campaign.

The chance to compete at that level, with the potential to win trophies and take those sort of scalps, is something that will of course, be hard for any player not to find appealing.

Beyond that, a move to Spain would rather take Johnson out of the limelight in England, allowing him to continue his development without the pressure and scrutiny from fans and media alike, that a high profile, big money move to a Premier League team with big ambitions would put on him, even at such a young age.

It seems therefore, that for all the opportunities that could soon be about to present themselves to him in the Premier League over the next few months, a move further afield is not one that Johnson should be ruling out just yet, particularly if a side such as Villarreal will indeed be in the mix for his signature.