Nottingham Forest manager Dougie Freedman has revealed he has been tracking new signing Ryan Mendes for a number of years.
Mendes has landed at the City Ground on loan from French Ligue 1 outfit Lille and with an eye on replacing Michail Antonio, who Forest sold to West Ham United on transfer deadline day.
Freedman is delighted to have bagged the Cape Verde international and explained that far from being a last-minute option, Mendes is a player he has long admired from afar.
The Forest boss told Forest Player: "Ryan Mendes is a left winger-cum-striker, an international player.
"I’ve been tracking him for many years. I tried to sign him for Crystal Palace from Le Havre a few years ago", Freedman continued.
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And the Forest boss is pleased with the additions he has made in the summer transfer window.
"All in all I think it’s a fantastic window for us", he said.
Mendes will be bidding to make his Nottingham Forest debut this coming weekend when Freedman takes his side to play QPR, freshly relegated from the Premier League, in a Championship game.
Nottingham Forest currently sit 16th in the Championship table with five points from their opening five matches, five points fewer than QPR's haul.
