Sports Evolve
The CEO of Anderlecht stated that it was Hendrik van Crombrugge’s decision to not move to Nottingham Forest for £1.5 million, and not the club’s, according to La Derniere Heure.
Only a few people seem to care about the situation as Keylor Navas had a successful debut for Nottingham Forest with a clean sheet and strong performance in a crucial win over Leeds.
According to The Sun, Nottingham Forest had reached an agreement with Anderlecht for Van Crombrugge, but the player backed out due to personal reasons.
After turning down the offer from Forest, Steve Cooper’s successful team decided to sign a three-time Champions League winner, Keylor Navas, from Paris Saint-Germain instead.
“Hendrik himself chose not to go to the Premier League,” explains CEO Jesper Fredberg, insisting that Nottingham Forest missing out on Van Crombrugge was not connected to the aborted deal for Harry Toffolo.
“As managers, we can try to find solutions, but we cannot decide for the players. That’s just how it is. Hendrik is a good boy, and we are happy with him as a keeper.”
Belgian international Hendrik van Crombrugge declined the opportunity to join Nottingham Forest’s new signings, while Toffolo saw his move to the club fall apart at the last minute.
Toffolo will remain at Nottingham Forest until the summer after Forest decided to keep him due to Omar Richards’ injury problems.
“When you go to the transfer market, you have a plan,” Fredberg adds. “I think we succeeded on some points. But there are others where we didn’t, because of different circumstances.
“(Missing out on Toffolo is) a problem in my opinion. He had the perfect characteristics to fill a gap that we had. I was very annoyed that it didn’t happen.”
Toffolo was not included in Steve Cooper’s squad for the victory over Leeds on Sunday, which was highlighted by Navas’ exceptional performance. The highly-regarded goalkeeper quickly demonstrated his abilities to Nottingham Forest fans.
“You don’t need me to tell you about his experience and the success he had,” Cooper beams. “But he will still have wanted to do well in his first game for the club. And he did. He was outstanding in the first half.
“The obvious talking points are his saves, and rightly. He deserves all the credit for that. But I loved his composure in the game as well; his game-management and his decision-making.
“I’m delighted he’s got up and running. It was something which helped us win the game, for sure. We’ve had a good few days with him. All he’s shown is a good work ethic, a humility and a desire to jump on board.
“We’re really pleased he’s here. We’re really looking forward to working with him now.
