Nottingham Forest are leading the race to sign Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

Steve Cooper has enjoyed a busy summer since Forest's promotion back to the Premier League, bringing in no fewer than 10 players this window, but the Midlands outfit still look short up front.

What's the latest news involving Dennis?

Forest have brought in Taiwo Awoniyi to provide competition for Sam Surridge and Lyle Taylor, but Cooper is still hoping to add further reinforcements at the top end of the pitch, especially after watching his side fail to register a shot on target against Newcastle last weekend.

GiveMeSport Transfer Update With Dean Jones

Therefore, the City Ground outfit are interested in signing Dennis, who enjoyed a fine debut season in the Premier League last term.

According to The Athletic, Forest have launched a £20m bid for the Nigeria international, who's previously attracted interested from West Ham, although they're now out of the running.

And Jones believes that with Forest the first team to launch a bid, they're leading the way in the pursuit of the 24-year-old.

What did Jones say about Dennis?

He told GIVEMESPORT: "At the moment, Nottingham Forest are the team most advanced to sign Dennis, but surely they can't get a free run at a player like that, it would seem odd."

Why do Nottingham Forest want Dennis?

Beyond his spell with Watford, Dennis doesn't have an eye-catching goal record, scoring just 29 times and registered 13 assists in more than 100 appearances for Club Brugge.

But if his Premier League exploits are anything to go by, this could provide a very decent signing for Forest.

Currently, none of their strikers have previously played in the top-flight, and while Dennis only has one season under his belt, he was impressive last season.

Dennis scored 10 goals and registered six assists in 33 games, so it's easy to see why Forest are keen.

Perhaps even more striking was that Dennis performed that impressively in a Watford side who found the net just 34 times altogether and lost 27 of their 38 league outings.

If Forest can get Dennis on board and he comes up with a similar amount of goals, it could really be the difference between keeping them in the Premier League or not.