Nottingham Forest have now submitted a £15m offer for an "elegant" midfielder, as they look to move ahead of West Ham United in the race for his signature.

Forest keen on another midfielder after Luiz

The noise surrounding Nuno Espirito Santo's future will be an unwanted distraction, with the manager's future now in doubt after publicly making it clear his relationship with Evangelos Marinakis has deteriorated since last season.

However, up to this point, the Tricky Trees have enjoyed a very positive summer transfer window, having brought in the likes of Omari Hutchinson, Dan Ndoye and James McAtee, although securing Morgan Gibbs-White's future was arguably the most important piece of business.

Forest have also recently added another midfielder to their ranks, with Juventus' Douglas Luiz arriving on an initial season-long loan, which includes a conditional obligation to buy next summer.

Despite adding a proven Premier League midfielder to their ranks, Nottingham Forest remain keen on bringing in a more defensive option before the September 1st deadline, and an offer has now been submitted for AS Monaco's Soungoutou Magassa.

That is according to a report from Foot Mercato (via Sport Witness), which states Forest have now tabled a proposal of €17m (£15m), which is slightly higher than West Ham's offer of €16m (£14m).

Both offers are currently still on the table, but there could be competition from elsewhere, with Atalanta also keen on the defensive midfielder, having recently contacted his entourage to assess the possibility of a deal.

As such, there could be an intense battle for Magassa's signature before the transfer deadline, which would be beneficial for Monaco, should a bidding war break out.

"Elegant" Magassa could be excellent signing for Forest

As previously mentioned, Forest have made major improvements to their midfield this summer, but the majority of their signings flourish going forward, while the Monaco maestro has more of a defensive mindset.

In fact, the Frenchman has performed extremely well across a number of important defensive metrics over the past year, when compared to his positional peers.

Scout Jacek Kulig has described the 21-year-old as an "elegant" player in the past, while also revealing the youngster is capable of slotting in at centre-back, which would make him a versatile addition to Nuno's squad.

Not only that, but scout Ben Mattinson believes the Monaco starlet is very comfortable in possession of the ball, saying: "On the ball he has a forward-thinking mindset looking to play through into the midfielders high up or spray passes wide out to the wings. His passing range is top."

As such, Magassa, who made seven Champions League appearances for Monaco last season, could be an excellent addition to Nuno's squad, and a move to the City Ground would surely be a more attractive proposition than joining West Ham, given their recent struggles.