Nottingham Forest now want to beat Leeds to signing of £15m PL player

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Nottingham Forest have joined Leeds United in the race to sign Manchester City defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

That is according to Alan Nixon, who reports Forest have now switched their attention towards Harwood-Bellis after a frustrating summer of failing to land centre-back targets.

Forest had made an offer for AS Roma’s Roger Ibanez before he instead moved to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli, while Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah is also expected to reject their advances.

As such, they could now launch a move for Man City’s Harwood-Bellis, with the Premier League champions having slapped a £15 million price tag on his head.

As per Nixon, that valuation has put Burnley, Fulham, West Ham United and Leeds off pursuing a permanent deal for the 21-year-old.

Forest want to beat Leeds to Harwood-Bellis signing

Leeds are believed to be keen on adding another central defender to Daniel Farke’s squad despite having signed Joe Rodon on a season-long-loan from Tottenham Hotspur last week.

According to talkSPORT, captain Liam Cooper has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia and is also expected to miss the next two months after picking up an injury on the opening day.

As per John Percy of the Daily Telegraph, Leeds remain keen on doing a loan deal for Harwood-Bellis but also face competition from Leicester City and Southampton.

Given he has just 12 months left to run on his current contract at City, he would have to sign a new deal for them to let him out on loan.

With that in mind, a permanent exit is likely to suit City more which could hand Forest the upper hand.