Nottingham Forest closing in on shock Serge Aurier free transfer after ex-Spurs star’s Villarreal contract expires

STEVE COOPER is looking to add former Spurs defender Serge Aurier to his ever-growing Nottingham Forest squad.

The 29-year-old Ivory Coast captain is a free agent after leaving Villarreal at the end of last season.

Cooper wants defensive cover after Omar Richards, his summer signing from Bayern Munich, was sidelined with a hairline fracture of the leg.

Aurier, who cost Tottenham £23million from PSG in 2017, can play left-back and right-back and is the kind of experienced all-rounder the Forest boss is searching for.

However he is one of several defensive options Cooper is considering, with Wolves centre-back Willy Boly another contender and Aurier has yet to undergo a medical as Forest weigh up all their options.

Meanwhile, Forest are set to pay £4million to sign Bordeaux's 29-year-old South Korean striker Hwang Ui-jo - but will loan him straight to owner Evangelos Marinakis' other club Olympiakos in Greece.

Forest believe Hwang showed class to score 11 goals in 32 appearances for the relegated French strugglers and believe he could adapt to the Premier League but want to see how he shapes up for Olympiakos first.

Steve Cooper's side have got off to a decent start back in the Premier League.

They are unbeaten in their last two matches since their opening day 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.

Taiwo Awoniyi's goal saw them beat West Ham 1-0, before they drew 1-1 at Everton last weekend.

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Despite all their new signings, it was two players that were already there that helped them secure Carabao Cup progression last night.

Steve Cooper took his side to League Two Grimsby in a potential second round banana skin.

But Ryan Yates' opener and a Sam Surridge double saw them comfortably prevail 3-0.