Nottingham Forest join the Nathaniel Chalobah loan bidding

Having failed to secure a Premier League loan for young Nathaniel Chalobah, Chelsea are (probably, hopefully) looking to send him back to the Championship for a at least few more months instead.

We figured he'd be promptly on his way when the "emergency" loan window opened on the 10th (Tuesday), but Chalobah is still at Chelsea. So what's the hold up? Money. (Probably, maybe.)

Watford seemed like the obvious first choice, yet despite the success of last season and the Gianfranco Zola factor, they have a couple things going against them:

1. Money. Apparently Watford are (probably, again/still) broke. And with Chalobah earning himself a new five-year deal and a raise in August, Chelsea are probably looking for a bit more money out of any loaning club. Zola himself admitted that Watford cannot quite match the financial power of other interested clubs.
2. Familiarity. This (probably, definitely) sounds like a plus at first, but Emenalo and the Chelsea youth gurus may be looking to challenge Chalobah with a something new and different. Zola does assure that Watford can still positively contribute to Nat's development.

The money angle was picked up by the Mirror, who claim that we're looking for a significant contribution towards Chalobah's new £30,000 weekly wage. And this is where Wigan and now Nottingham Forest come into play. Wigan are sitting prettier than most of the rest of the second tier thanks to Premier League parachute payments, but Forest have some wiggle room as well, having just sold Adlène Guédioura (for whom Chalobah would be an ideal, direct replacement).

The Nottingham Post understand that "Forest have already made initial contact with Chelsea". Whether the future superstar ends up with them or somewhere else, I'd expect a resolution one way or another before the weekend.