Director on why Nottingham Forest failed for Javi Rueda

Celta Vigo sporting director Marco Garcés says manager Claudio Giráldez had a big influence in their decision to reject Nottingham Forest’s bid for Javi Rueda. 

La Voz de Galicia, a newspaper local to the La Liga side, have relayed his comments.

Nottingham Forest missed out on few right-backs

On August 31st, Nottingham Forest completed the signing of Daniel Muñoz from Crystal Palace.

Prior to the Colombia international’s late move to the City Ground, the Reds had looked at a few other right-backs, including Javi Rueda.

On August 26th, the Premier League side made an offer of around €15-20m to sign the 24-year-old. The Spanish club signed him from Real Madrid in 2024, and Los Blancos retain 50% of his rights.

A day later, Sport Witness covered a report from Spain explaining that Nottingham Forest reached an agreement with Celta Vigo. However, the latter still rejected their offer, at the request of Claudio Giráldez.

“We had a series of offers that would have been more damaging to our sporting project than they would have solved our financial problems,” he said.

“It would have provided a sum that would have alleviated the financial situation. It’s not an amount that can’t be achieved by having a good season in Europe. Claudio’s influence on the decision is significant, as it is in all of them.”

Nottingham Forest bid wasn’t convincing 

Metropolitano, a Galician outlet, have covered additional comments from Marco Garcés about rejecting a bid for Javi Rueda.

He explains Real Madrid retaining the fullback’s 50% rights also played a part in Celta Vigo’s decision to reject Nottingham Forest’s bid. The director indicates Oliver Glasner’s side may have signed Rueda had they offered around €30-40m.

“Then there was the situation with Rueda. As you know, Real Madrid own 50% of his rights,” Garcés explained.

“If it had been €30m or €40m, then yes. The amount on offer isn’t something that can’t be replaced by having a good campaign in Europe.”