Cooper eyeing Forest swoop for “prolific” £34m phenomenon, he's a big Taylor upgrade – opinion

Nottingham Forest are eyeing up a swoop for Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos as Steve Cooper looks to add to his attacking options ahead of the Premier League season.

That’s according to Portuguese outlet Record, who claimed that Forest are keen on signing the Portuguese gem.

This was translated by journalist Jacque Talbot, who tweeted: “Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle, and Nottingham Forest are interested in Benfica’s 20-year-old forward Gonçalo Ramos. Club are open to selling for around €40million and Jorge Mendes is leading the negotiations.”

The Reds are duly set to battle it out with several European heavyweights in order to sign the £34m-valued (€40m) striker.

With Forest approaching their first Premier League campaign in 23 years, Cooper will be looking to add some quality and depth to his playing squad to cope with the demands of top-flight football.

Ramos could well be a shrewd investment, and not only for immediate success – at 20 years of age, he is still a few years away from hitting his peak.

Having been dubbed “incredibly prolific” by football scout Jacek Kulig, his goalscoring figures are exceptional. He has notched nine goals in 15 appearances for Portugal under-19s, 14 goals in 18 matches for Portugal under-21s and 14 goals in 59 senior appearances for Benfica.

He could be a massive upgrade on Lyle Taylor, who at 32 looks set to be past his peak and was loaned out to Birmingham for the latter part of the 2021/22 campaign.

Although they had similar returns in terms of goals and assists last season, it’s Ramos who statistically comes out the better player. The 20-year-old took 3.02 shots per match last season compared to just 2.04 for Taylor, while also having more shots on target compared to the