Nottingham Forest are said to be facing competition for Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos as they look to strengthen their squad.
A bid of 10 million euros (£8.5m) was previously reported as being in the offing by the Reds. But it seems interest in the centre-back has only increased as the transfer window has progressed.
Fulham are now said to be keen on Mavropanos, according to German newspaper Bild (via Sport Witness). The player also has admirers in the Bundesliga and in Italy, with Eintracht Frankfurt and Napoli having been tracking him for some time. West Ham United had previously been credited with an interest.
However, Bild report Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, in particular, “would like” to snap up the 25-year-old. It is said Stuttgart are yet to receive an official bid, but a summer departure appears likely.
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Mavropanos is said to have a release clause of 25m euros (£21m), but his club would be prepared to let him go for 15-20m euros (£12.8-17m). However, the expectation is this is a transfer saga which could drag on for several weeks yet, with the Greece international assuming he will start pre-season with Stuttgart.
On speculation about his future, Mavropanos said last month: "These rumours don't interest me. At the moment my focus is on my last two games that VfB stay in the Bundesliga.
"I can't make any promises because sometimes things in football can change from one day to the next. But what I can say is that I feel at home at VfB and I really enjoy my time here."
The Reds have yet to make any new additions since the summer transfer window opened earlier this month. Central defence is one area where they will assess their options, given a number of centre-backs currently on the books have 12 months left on their current deals. This is around the time when clubs typically either look to cash in on such players rather than risk losing them for free a year down the line or offer fresh terms to tie them down for longer.
