Forest were sent a number of questions about the case by
The Athletic, to which they responded: “The club has conducted due diligence and we are fully satisfied following conversations with his representatives.”
But again, we have to ask: what are they thinking?
They have knowingly signed a player who has been accused of a heinous crime. Again, Montiel denies the accusations, but the road ahead may not be smooth, and what if things don’t go quite as Forest might expect?
Forest’s assertion that they are “fully satisfied” essentially implies they do not think Montiel will be convicted but, as
The Athletic has reported, both the lawyers of the alleged victim and the Buenos Aires prosecutor’s office say the club have not contacted them.
The case is ongoing, so even if Forest say they are “satisfied”, the Argentinian prosecutor clearly is not.
It should be made clear that there are significant differences between this case and the one involving Mason Greenwood, not least the audio and pictures that appeared on social media in the
Manchester United forward’s case. Greenwood denied the accusations and the charges were discontinued because the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service felt there wasn’t a realistic prospect of conviction.