 after last summer's vast spending on 30 new players. It means offers of more than £50 million for Johnson will have to be considered – as with Hall and Chelsea, Johnson will represent pure profit on the balance sheet for Forest in their PSR compliancy. There are many options as far Johnson is concerned, with his adjustment to the Premier League in the second half of the season impressing those clubs who had followed his progress in Forest's final Championship season. West Ham are also interested in Johnson and the club have rejected two bids from Brentford for the player, the second of which was a club record £35 million. Brentford made three offers for Johnson when Forest were still in the Championship. Johnson started against Arsenal in Forest's opening game defeat. By contrast, Forest manager Steve Cooper has found his own club's trading this summer severely restricted and losing Johnson, as favourite with the fans, would be a major blow.){kind=link}
Mauricio Pochettino’s summer spending spree continues in pursuit of 22-year-old forward
Chelsea have begun talks over a move for Nottingham Forest’s homegrown star Brennan Johnson having failed in their attempt to sign Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Michael Olise, who has instead opted to agree a new contract at the club.
The huge investment in players continues for Chelsea although not with Olise, 21, a France Under-21 international who had been their primary choice in that position. It is understood that Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has been in contact with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis over preliminary negotiations.
Olise’s Palace future was secured this week with the club’s chairman Steve Parish announcing on his Instagram feed on Thursday that the player had agreed a new deal. Olise, currently injured, previously had one foot out the door.
A post shared by Steve Parish (@chair4palace)