Nottingham Forest confirm transfer of fans' favourite

Goalkeeper Brice Samba has completed a move from Nottingham Forest to Lens.

The 28-year-old has penned a five-year contract with the French side, in a deal thought to be worth 5m euros (about £4.3m). It ends his three-year stay at the City Ground, where he had been a firm fans’ favourite.

Samba will go down in Reds folklore for the part he played in securing promotion to the Premier League. A key player throughout last season, he produced a standout performance in the penalty shootout against Sheffield United to send Steve Cooper’s side to Wembley.

However, the shot-stopper had 12 months left to run on his Forest contract and turned down the offer of a new one, amid suggestions he deemed the terms “unacceptable”. In addition to Lens, he is said to have had interest from another French club, as well as Fulham.

Samba becomes the Reds’ second goalkeeping departure of the summer, with Ethan Horvath having joined Luton Town on loan. Dean Henderson has been brought in on loan from Manchester United, while Burnley’s Wayne Hennessey has also been linked.

Samba joined Forest from Caen in the summer of 2019. He leaves having made a total of 133 appearances, including 45 last term.

His former goalkeeping coach at Caen, Herve Sekli, has linked up with Lens this summer. And the club were in need of a replacement for No.1 Wuilker Farinez, who suffered an ACL injury while on international duty.