Nottingham Forest have confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon on a permanent deal.
The 31-year-old has signed a three-year deal at The City Ground and joins the club for an undisclosed fee.
? He’s back!
#NFFC are delighted to announce that goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon has rejoined the club on a permanent basis.
#ThatLovingFeeling https://t.co/Kh7a0sVgR0— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) July 3, 2018
The 6ft 8in keeper spend the second-half of last season on-loan at Forest from his previous club Watford, making 13 appearances and keeping four clean sheets, which helped the club to a 17th place finish in the Championship.
Pantilimon joins a club who are showing real ambition in the transfer market, having already sealed the permanent signings of Joao Carvalho, El Arbi Hillel Soudani, Jack Robinson and Michael Dawson, with Gil Dias and Diogo Goncalves joining on loan.
OPINION
This signing will delight Forest boss Aitor Karanka. By sealing this deal, the club have signed a Premier League quality goalkeeper who Karanka can have absolute faith in, and it’s one less position to worry about ahead of next season. The Spaniard, and the club, are surprising the whole division with every signing they make and it really is starting to become a quality team. Pantilimon proved his ability with a successful loan spell at The City Ground last season, making some important saves and giving confidence to the back-four. He’s an absolute unit at 6ft 8in and he puts fear into the opposition attackers, either one-on-one or from set-pieces. It is a bit strange that Watford let him go so easily, as he didn’t look out of place in the Premier League when he appeared. Forest fans won’t care about that one bit though, this is a terrific signing.