Nottingham Forest sign Jair Cunha amid controversy around Gibbs-White deal

Nottingham Forest have signed defender Jair Cunha from Botafogo.

Cunha becomes Forest’s second signing of the transfer window, following striker Igor Jesus in making the move from Botafogo to the City Ground.

He joins on a five-year contract until 2030, the transfer coming after Cunha helped Botafogo to the last 16 of the Club World Cup.

The centre-back scored in Botafogo’s opening Club World Cup game against Seattle Sounders, and will now hope to help Forest build on their seventh-placed finish last season.

Forest’s chief football officer, Ross Wilson told their official website: “Jair is a young talent who has shown quality during his time in Brazil, and we are happy to have secured his signature.

“Jair has flourished in Brazil and now has new ambitions as he moves to the Premier League. We know he will be warmly welcomed into the group here in Nottingham.”

A difficult summer for Forest

While Forest have added to their ranks, building on their surprising exploits of last season will be more difficult for the departure of Anthony Elanga.

The winger, who scored six goals and provided 11 assists in the Premier League last season, is set to be announced as a Newcastle United player following a £55million deal.

And there is now controversy surrounding another key member of the Forest team, midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.

Reports had suggested Gibbs-White was poised to join Tottenham after Spurs activated his £60m release clause.

However, Forest are now said to be considering legal action over what they deem be an illegal approach for Gibbs-White.

Forest are reported to believe there has been a breach of the confidentiality provisions in the release clause.

For now, the deal for Gibbs-White is off. Still, with Elanga departing and Gibbs-White’s future in doubt, Forest will need to do more work in the transfer market if they are to continue on an upward trajectory.