Feyenoord director denies €30m Nottingham Forest bid for Givairo Read

Feyenoord technical director Dévy Rigaux has dismissed reports that Nottingham Forest submitted a €30million bid for Givairo Read during the summer transfer window.

The 20-year-old was the subject of significant interest throughout the window, with Forest making several attempts to bring the highly-rated right-back to the Premier League.

Roma were also involved in the race, but Read ultimately remained at Feyenoord after no agreement was reached over his departure.

Nottingham Forest pursued Read for much of the summer as they looked to strengthen their options at right-back.

Negotiations took place and Forest returned with offers, while Roma also emerged as serious competition for his signature.

However, Feyenoord stood firm and Read remained in Rotterdam. Forest eventually moved elsewhere, signing Daniel Munoz from Crystal Palace late in the window.

Rigaux has previously described Feyenoord’s decision to retain Read as a “signal of strength”.

While confirming there was interest in Read, Rigaux has now challenged reports regarding the size of the offers Feyenoord received.

“I don’t know where that figure (€30m) came from,” Rigaux told ESPN.

“I’d rather not discuss specific amounts, but I can certainly say it wasn’t thirty million.”

The Feyenoord director also explained that receiving a substantial fee would not necessarily have allowed the club to immediately spend the same amount on replacements.

“Besides, it wouldn’t have meant we could have immediately reinvested those millions, so that doesn’t really make the difference,” he added.

Read did not publicly push to leave Feyenoord, but he made no secret of being intrigued by the Premier League interest.

The Netherlands Under-21 international previously admitted he found the attention from Nottingham Forest “quite exciting”.

Despite that, Feyenoord had their own reasons for keeping the defender and ultimately resisted the approaches that arrived.

Read can operate on either side of the defence, although right-back remains his preferred position.

Missing out this summer does not necessarily mean Read’s future at Feyenoord is settled for the long term.

At only 20, the defender has already attracted interest from Premier League and Serie A clubs. Another strong spell with Feyenoord could increase that attention further.

Forest may decide to revisit the situation in the future, although their signing of Munoz means their immediate need at right-back has been addressed.

Read will remain an important part of Feyenoord’s plans after the club resisted interest in him this summer.

His performances will now determine whether Nottingham Forest return or other European clubs enter the race when the transfer market reopens.