Nottingham Forest complete Chris Wood signing

Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of Chris Wood on an initial loan from Newcastle, which includes a conditional obligation to make it permanent until the summer of 2024.

Wood was a £25m signing for Newcastle last January, one of the first new arrivals following the PIF takeover. But he found himself on the fringes in the first half of this season, scoring only twice in the Premier League and making most of his appearances as a substitute.

The New Zealand international will wear the number 39 shirt for Forest and provides a much-needed boost up front following injury to Taiwo Awoniyi.

“Nottingham Forest is a massive club which I have come up against a number of times, but it’s nice now to be able to pull on the red shirt and fight for the club,” Wood said.

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“You can see the transition over the past 18 months and it’s progressing in the right way. It’s a project that’s going in the right direction. It’s a club looking up rather than anything else, it’s going to take a lot of hard work, but it’s a squad that’s pulling together.

“I’ve been in this league a long time, so hopefully I’ll bring a lot of experience to try and help the younger lads out and bring everybody together. As a visiting player, it’s always been a hostile atmosphere at The City Ground. The crowd are loud and strong, so I’m thankful to have that passionate fanbase on my side now and I can’t wait to get playing there.”

90min reported on Thursday that Leeds had also enquired about Wood, while Everton, Southampton and Bournemouth were keeping tabs on him. But it was Forest who took it on, made the approach and got a deal over the line.