Nottingham Forest have seen a £25million bid rejected by Arsenal for striker Eddie Nketiah, talkSPORT understands.
The 25-year-old has been made available for purchase having fallen down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta.
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are preferred ahead of the one-cap England international at the Emirates.
Nketiah, who is tied down in north London until 2027, was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s opening day 2-0 win over Wolves.
His future has been uncertain all summer, with French giants Marseille having multiple bids turned down by the Gunners for his services.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side had a £17m offer knocked back last month, before having a £23m bid turned down.
Bournemouth were then believed to be keen on the forward to replace Dominic Solanke, only for them to sign Evanilson from Porto instead.
And now Forest have tried their luck to land Nketiah, where they have made him their top target.
Despite having a £25m offer plus add-ons rejected, negotiations between Arsenal and the east Midlands side continue.
Earlier in the summer, talkSPORT revealed how Arsenal valued the Hale End graduate at a whopping £50m.
But they have since been forced to lower their demands having had no takers.
It is understood that the Premier League title challengers are now seeking a fee in the region of £30m-£35m.
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Forest have also eyed up Feyenoord’s Santiago Gomez as an option up top to provide competition for Taiwo Awoniyi and Chris Wood.
However it is Nketiah that has been identified by Steve Cooper as their main priority.
Nketiah broke into Arsenal’s first team under Arsene Wenger during the 2017/18 season.
In 168 games in all competitions, he has found the back of the net on 38 occasions.
But he hasn’t scored since December 2023, which came in a 1-1 draw away at PSV in the Champions League.
And he is also coming up to a year since his last Premier League goals, where he banged in a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Sheffield United in October 2023.
