Aitor Karanka, the new Nottingham Forest manager, has launched an ambitious bid for Chelsea forward Charly Musonda.

Karanka wants to sign Musonda on loan for the remainder of the season after the 21-year-old attacking midfielder was cleared by Chelsea for a temporary move.

Musonda scored against Forest in the Carabao Cup in September and Karanka will rival a number of Premier League clubs, including Bournemouth, Newcastle and Watford, for the Belgium Under-21 international.

Karanka, who is also keen to sign a new goalkeeper and a centre-half, has admitted he is under pressure to take Forest back to the big time.

Forest dumped FA Cup holders Arsenal out of the competition last Sunday but they have endured a long and painful exile from the top flight since their relegation in 1999.

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Evangelos Marinakis, the club’s owner, wants to return soon and former Middlesbrough manager Karanka is ready to embrace the challenge after signing a two-and-a-half year deal.

“The pressure is on me because I am here to get promotion.” he said. “The bigger the club is, the pressure is. The chairman and the owners are ambitious and a club like this belongs in the Premier League.”

Karanka begins his City Ground reign on Saturday with a home game against Aston Villa.