Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is reportedly prepared to move decisively for a Chelsea manager target despite Vitor Pereira's solid work at the City Ground recently.

Pereira sparks Forest revival with relegation avoided

When Pereira walked through the City Ground doors, Forest were in serious trouble.

The season had already chewed through multiple managers, the atmosphere around the club was fractious, and the threat of relegation was very real.

What followed was one of the quieter rescue acts of the Premier League season.

Forest, barring their 4-0 demolition at the hands of Aston Villa in Europe last week, have been mightily impressive under Pereira since mid-March.

The Tricky Trees have hammered all of Sunderland, Chelsea and Tottenham across their last 10 games in all competitions, alongside some excellent wins in Europe, with Paul Merson heaping praise on Pereira for choosing to play two strikers.

Forest have undoubtedly been a frightening prospect since the Portuguese took charge, and are now seven points clear of the bottom three with two matches still to play.

Survival is mathematically secured, and a lot of that is down to Pereira's work.

By any reasonable measure, he has done a fantastic job, which makes this latest report from TEAMtalk's Graeme Bailey a real shock.

Marinakis ready to make shock Forest move for Marco Silva

According to his information, Forest owner Marinakis is reportedly weighing up yet another managerial change this summer, despite the club having already cycled through a trio of different bosses during the current campaign.

The reason? Marco Silva.

The Fulham boss has long been admired by Marinakis, and the roots of that relationship run deep.

The pair worked together at Olympiacos, where Silva led the club to the 2016 Greek Super League title in stunning fashion — a campaign that included a remarkable run of 17 consecutive domestic victories from the off.

What makes the emerging story even more striking is the historical parallel.

When Silva took the Olympiacos job all those years ago, he actually replaced Pereira, so if TEAMtalk's report is accurate, history could be about to repeat itself.

TEAMtalk say that Marinakis would be prepared to move decisively for Silva if the Portuguese coach indicates he is open to a switch to the City Ground.

The Forest owner is said to believe that Silva's Premier League experience, tactical clarity and proven ability to improve players could help take the club to a different level — beyond mere survival and towards something more ambitious.

The competition for Silva's signature, however, is fierce.

Chelsea are actively assessing the 'master' tactician as part of their ongoing managerial search following Liam Rosenior's departure, with the Stamford Bridge hierarchy said to hold Silva in high regard.

Benfica are also in the picture, with José Mourinho expected to leave for Real Madrid this summer and the Portuguese club needing a replacement.

Fulham, for their part, have no desire to lose him and would do everything possible to keep him at Craven Cottage.

Whether Marinakis can win that race — and whether he is truly prepared to move on from a manager who just saved his club from the drop — remains to be seen.

But the Forest owner has never shown much hesitation when it comes to making bold decisions in the dugout.

Pereira will know better than most that at the City Ground, a job well done is no guarantee of a future.