The cunning Nottingham Forest deadline day deal which could help them beat the drop

Nottingham Forest seem set to strike one of the shrewdest deals of transfer deadline day, if reports are to be believed – with Sky Sports suggesting that the club are close to agreeing a deal to sign left-back Luca Netz for a bargain fee.

The 22-year-old Borussia Mönchengladbach defender had previously been linked with a number of Premier League clubs but now seems set to move to the City Ground in a deal which could prove to be a particularly smart piece of transfer business.

Why Nottingham Forest could be getting a bargain in Luca Netz

Despite his relative youth, Netz already has nearly 150 senior appearances under his belt to go alongside 17 caps for Germany’s Under-21 side, and has been earmarked as a potential future star for the last couple of seasons – but now Nottingham Forest could be set to sign him for as little as £2m, an offer which has apparently been accepted.

The remarkably low fee is a result of the fact that Netz is entering the final six months of his contract with Mönchengladbach, and if he realises his considerable potential then Forest could be getting an exceptionally good deal – and perhaps a player who could make the difference as they battle against relegation from the Premier League.

As it stands, Nottingham Forest are six points but just one place clear of the bottom three, and left-back was starting to look like a potential problem position following the early termination of Oleksandr Zinchenko’s loan agreement from Arsenal. That left Neco Williams and youngster Cuiabano as the only recognised left-backs in Sean Dyche’s squad, and with Williams now facing a suspension after his red card against Crystal Palace over the weekend, a player like Netz could make an immediate impact.

A well-rounded full-back whose combination of defensive acumen and respectable technical quality made him useful at both ends of the field – he has 15 league assists in five seasons with Mönchengladbach - Netz has been monitored by a number of different sides but it’s Forest who could be the beneficiaries of his unexpectedly budget-friendly availability.

With January deals often painfully expensive, Forest may end up getting one of the better bargains of the window, with relatively little risk attached to the deal if Netz should struggle to find his best form.

Netz’s form a concern – but low risk makes this a fine deal

One of the reasons that Nottingham Forest were perhaps able to strike such a cheap deal for a player who had been on a number of shortlists is that Netz has been having perhaps his weakest season in the Bundesliga yet.

Although his underlying statistical output has remained respectable, he hasn’t been making quite as much of a difference as he had in previous seasons and has found himself rotated in and out of the Mönchengladbach starting line-up more frequently than might have been expected.

A change of scenery could, perhaps, help him to rediscover his best form and there is certainly plenty of past evidence that Netz could be a fine signing for Forest in the long term, even if his recent performances may raise questions as to how sizeable his impact will be over the coming weeks, when he may perhaps be needed the most.

With Forest fighting to ensure their top-flight survival, their margin for error in the transfer market is small – but Netz presents a high-ceiling prospect for minimal outlay, and if he can get back to his best then this will likely rank among the sharpest pieces of business done over the course of the winter transfer window.