Forest confirm Chelsea bid

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cotterill has confirmed Chelsea have made an attempt to sign teenage striker Patrick Bamford.

Bamford has made only two first-team appearances for struggling Forest, but has impressed all and sundry at the City Ground with his performances.

The 18-year-old appears to have attracted the interest of Chelsea and, it would seem, Andre Villas-Boas has tried to bring him to Stamford Bridge before the transfer deadline.

This offer of £1.5 million was dismissed by Forest, but Cotterill is resigned to losing Bamford at some point in the not too distant future.

"There has been a bid for him from Chelsea, it is for £1.5m," the former Portsmouth boss told the Nottingham Evening Post.

"The problem we have is that Patrick has been offered a couple of contracts now.

"And I am not sure Patrick will sign a new contract at Nottingham Forest.

"We are going to have a meeting to decide where that goes. What materialises, we will find out shortly."

Meanwhile, Chelsea completed the capture of Belgian youngster Kevin de Bruyne early on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old, however, will not move to Stamford Bridge until the summer, and will spend the rest of the season with Genk.

De Bruyne is the third young Belgian to join Chelsea in the past six months, following in the footsteps of Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois.

The former has yet to force his way into the first-team on a regular basis, while the later is halfway through a season-long loan deal with La Liga outfit Atletico Madrid.