Nottingham Forest target England star – as ‘big fan’ Sean Dyche hopes to persuade him to join relegation battle at the City Ground

Lewis Dunk is a target for Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche despite signing a new deal with Brighton only last month. 

The centre back agreed a one-year extension with the Seagulls in December but is now in the sights of Forest – as was first reported by Daily Mail Sport in November.

Dyche wants a proven Premier League defender to complement Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo and Dunk, 34, is top of his list. 

In order to persuade Dunk to join a relegation battle, Forest are likely to have to offer a longer deal and improved salary. 

Dyche has been a big fan of England international Dunk for some time. He scored one of the great goals to be disallowed by VAR, a volley against Dyche’s Everton in November 2023.   

Despite his age, Dunk is still a regular with Brighton as club captain and has played 22 matches for the club this season. 

Brighton captain Dunk agreed a one-year extension with the Seagulls in December 

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He joined the club in 2003 as a youth player, and has gone onto play over 500 times for the first team to date.

An England call-up came his way in 2018, and he has played six times for his country. His days as an international footballer, though, appear to now be numbered.

Brighton are currently 12th in the Premier League, but just three points off of eighth. Forest are 17th – five points ahead of West Ham in 18th – following an important win over Brentford on Sunday.

The lack of guaranteed first-team football may go against Forest, but the incentive of improved terms could turn the veteran’s head. 

Forest have also tabled a £35million bid for wantaway Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta.

They have also brought in Lorenzo Lucca on loan from Napoli, but, with Chris Wood out for the season, they still want another forward. Igor Jesus and Taiwo Awoniyi both scored in the 2-0 win over Brentford on Sunday, however, to boost their own confidence.