{"id":590623,"date":"2021-05-07T12:45:10","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T16:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=590623"},"modified":"2021-05-07T12:45:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T16:45:10","slug":"josh-ruffels-nottingham-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/05\/07\/josh-ruffels-nottingham-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford United Defender Josh Ruffels Targeted By Nottingham Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oxford United defender Josh Ruffels has emerged as a transfer target for Nottingham Forest, according to The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Josh Ruffels Targeted By Nottingham Forest<\/h2>\n

Oxford Defender Is Out of Contract in the Summer<\/h3>\n

Josh Ruffels has had a stellar season for Oxford United but the 27-year-old left-back is out of contract in the summer. Talks have been ongoing for some time and many fans have resigned to seeing the Oxford-born defender depart at the end of the season.<\/p>\n

The U’s have acted quickly with tying up out of contract players, with Jack Stevens<\/a>, Simon Eastwood<\/a>, Sam Long<\/a>, Mark Sykes and Alex Rodriguez Gorrin<\/a> all extending their stays in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

But now, it looks as though Championship side Nottingham Forest are ready to take advantage of the unsolved contract situation, after watching the defender ‘with interest.’<\/p>\n

Josh Ruffels: Mr Consistent<\/h3>\n

Having reached 300 appearances for Oxford United this season, Josh Ruffels is often dubbed as ‘Mr Consistent’ by supporters. In match ratings, the left-back would often be given a mark of between six and eight, while his goalscoring exploits have seen another side of his game this season.<\/p>\n

Ruffels has added six goals and laid on six assists for the U’s this season in what is his most prolific season for goal contributions.<\/p>\n

Nottingham Forest<\/h3>\n

According to the report, Forest have been monitoring Ruffels ‘with interest’. The Reds currently have four players that can cover at left-back but Yuri Ribeiro will be out of contract in the summer and there are doubts over the future of Nicholas Ioannou, who has been away on loan.<\/p>\n

In addition, the U’s signed Marcus McGuane this week ahead of the new season from Forest. The 22-year-old had been on loan with the U’s<\/a> this season but returned to his parent club after picking up a thigh injury in late January.<\/p>\n

Now that McGuane has made the move permanent, it could be used as a bargaining tool for persuading Ruffels to move the other way.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>