Nottingham Forest have made a £35m bid to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta from Crystal Palace. The France striker, who has told Palace he wants to leave, is among Forest’s targets as they look to strengthen in attack.

Forest signed the 6ft 7in forward Lorenzo Lucca on loan from Napoli last week with an option to make the deal permanent. Only Wolves (15) have scored fewer top-flight goals this season than Forest (23).

Palace are unwilling to sell Mateta without replacing him and are understood to want a package worth up to £40m despite the 28-year-old having less than 18 months on his contract. He has also been the subject of interest from Juventus and Aston Villa this month and has indicated his desire to play for a club in the Champions League to boost his chances of going to this summer’s World Cup after earning his first call-up last season.

Forest – who entertain Palace on Sunday – are 17th in the Premier League, three points behind Palace in 15th – but are believed to be ready to match Mateta’s wage demands. There is animosity between the clubs after Forest took Palace’s place in the Europa League when Palace were found in breach of Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules.

Forest retain an interest in the Wolves striker Jørgen Strand Larsen, who also has admirers at Palace and Leeds. Mehdi Taremi, of Olympiakos, has also been linked with Forest. Leeds have had a bid for Strand Larsen rejected in this transfer window, which closes next Monday.

Villa were also interested in Mateta but are pursuing a deal to re-sign their former loanee Tammy Abraham, who travelled to England for a medical at the weekend. Abraham joined Besiktas on loan last summer and the Turkish club triggered a clause to buy the striker from Roma, but Besiktas are poised to sell Abraham to Villa.

The former England forward left Chelsea for Roma in 2021 and scored 39 goals in 120 games for them, winning the Conference League in 2022. He spent 2024-25 on loan at Milan, scoring 10 goals in 44 appearances.