Town made a £10 million offer for Nottingham Forest striker Igor Jesus during his time at Botafogo, according to the Brazilian club’s majority shareholder John Textor.

Jesus, 24, joined Forest in the summer for £10 million and American businessman Textor, who also runs Olympique Lyonnais and RWDM Brussels, was quizzed on the valuation by club influencers, revealing that the only previous interest came from Town, who were linked with the frontman in January.

“In the case of Igor Jesus, we only had one proposal, from Ipswich, which was about to be relegated, and he did not want to leave,” quotes Fogonarede.

“There should have been a lot more offers for Igor Jesus and now I think people are regretting it. You can say we were stupid in selling him for that amount, but we had no other offers.

“Now, some people may say that the amount paid by Igor Jesus was very low, but Igor Jesus came to us without a transfer fee because he has a history of two serious knee injuries.

“I think Igor Jesus is a tank, indestructible, nothing can stop him, but there was a news story about Igor Jesus saying that his knee exams made it very difficult for clubs to feel confident in paying a higher amount for him.”

Textor, who sold a stake in Crystal Palace in the summer, admits the fee was low given Jesus’s displays since making his switch to Forest.

“We attributed a value to Igor Jesus that seems low in comparison with his good performances in the Premier League,” he continued. “But it was very, very high considering the medical problems that caused great concern.”

He added: “There are factors that influence, such as injuries, and you feel really stupid when suddenly Igor Jesus is the best player against Liverpool and you are sure that you should have received more money for him.

“But the fact is that his history of injuries was the main reason why we didn’t receive more for him.

“Many of these numbers will swing and sometimes you will look stupid, sometimes they will make sense and sometimes they are part of an adjustment because you negotiate with this particular friend in many situations.”

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