Nottingham Forest looking to emulate Wolves with rumoured Portuguese double signing

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Nottingham Forest have been regarded as sleeping giants for a long time, but they will be hoping this summer can propel them to a promotion-challenging club once again.

Aitor Karanka was brought in as manager towards the back-end of last season and did okay, but he will have loftier ambitions than coaching a team to a 17^th placed finish.

Forest will need to recruit well this summer if they are to push on into the top half of the Championship.

Record in Portugal report that the club are ready to make a major double signing from Benfica, with Joao Carvalho and Diogo Goncalves set to make the move to the City Ground.

It is believed that the former will sign a permanent deal, while the latter will join on loan with a view to a permanent contract. The negotiations are close to conclusion and both players are aware that they are set to move to England.

Interestingly, both players are represented by Jorge Mendes and that could bring parallels being drawn with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Midlands club romped to the Championship title last season and were helped by the connections provided by Mendes.

Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota were just two of the players that the Portuguese super-agent managed to bring to Molineux.

It would be too soon to suggest the pair set for Forest can have a similar impact, but supporters can be forgiven for getting excited at the prospect.

They are both bright prospects who have featured for the Benfica first-team. Carvalho is a midfielder capable of playing in the centre of the park of as a number ten.

He is a technically-gifted player, who is able to influence the game with his passing range and dribbling ability. The 21-year-old operates well in tight spaces and looks to create at every opportunity.

His major weakness is his defensive contribution and physicality, which is why a move to the Championship could be beneficial to his development.

Meanwhile, Diogo Goncalves is a little further along in his development as shown by his involvement in the Champions League. He started four times for Benfica and added a further seven appearances in the league.

The 21-year-old is a left winger, who is a more physical player and a good set-piece taker. He likes to cut inside to influence the game and offers a direct goal threat as a result.

It would represent a coup if Forest were to sign both for the upcoming season, even if they weren’t permanent deals.

Similar signings saw Wolves quickly progress into title-contenders and Aitor Karanka will be hoping that the Benfica duo could have a similar impact on his team.

Although they are less experienced than the likes of Neves and Jota, they both clearly have talent and will be great signings for Forest.

The Forest board must now get these two deals over the line if the reported negotiations are correct, as rival clubs could start sniffing around.

If they manage to get these completed quickly, it would provide a statement of intent and could help the club make further additions with similar quality.

Supporters would be quick to draw Wolves comparisons and it would be too early to do that. However, the signings would suggest better times are ahead for the club.