Man City set to lose loyal servant with Pep Guardiola stalwart on course to complete transfer to Premier League rivals

According to German football reporter Florian Plettenberg, Ortega is reportedly on the verge of joining Sean Dyche’s Forest after the club agreed a deal with Guardiola’s City on Saturday.

The report claims Ortega - who verbally agreed to join Forest while the two clubs thrashed out the terms of a transfer - is set to join the Tricky Trees on a permanent deal until the end of the season.

A separate report from BBC Sport claims Forest will pay City a fee worth up to £500,000 ($685,000) for Ortega’s signature ahead of the winter market closing on Monday 2 February.

Should Ortega’s move go through as expected, the 33-year-old will become the sixth player to depart City this month, with Oscar Bobb, Jadel Katongo and Will Dickson having secured permanent moves to Fulham, Kayserispor and Chesterfield respectively, while Jaden Heskey and Claudio Echeverri completed loan switches to Sheffield Wednesday and Girona respectively.

Meanwhile, Forest have moved quickly to sign a new goalkeeper after John Victor sustained a knee injury which has ruled him out for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.

Dyche’s side - who are currently 17th in the Premier League and five points above the drop zone - have been active in the January transfer market, signing Napoli striker Lorenzo Lucca on a season-loan loan, while they also had a £35 million ($48m) bid for wantaway forward Jean-Philippe Mateta rejected by Crystal Palace.

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While City are well-stocked when it comes to goalkeepers, with Gianluigi Donnarumma and James Trafford acting as the number one and two respectively, Ortega’s departure sees manager Guardiola lose a player for whom he holds a strong affinity.

After joining City from German outfit Armenia Bielefeld in 2022, Ortega has made 56 appearances under Guardiola’s stewardship, helping the club win seven major honours including a historic treble during the 2022-23 season.

In perhaps his greatest moment in a City shirt, Ortega made an all-important one-on-one save to deny Son Heung-min and help his side secure a crucial three points over Tottenham Hotspur in May 2024. 

Both Ortega’s save and City’s victory had a huge bearing on the Premier League title race that season, as Guardiola’s men eventually pipped Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to the league crown by two points.

Following his heroics against Spurs, Guardiola said of Ortega: “He saves us – otherwise Arsenal are champions. That is the reality. The margins are so tight. The save from Son. It was incredible. One-on-one, Stefan is one of the best keepers I’ve seen in my life. It’s the German culture – stand up, don’t go down.”

While Ortega brings an end to his three-and-a-half-year spell in Manchester, City will look to make it three wins in a row when they return to league action against Thomas Frank’s Tottenham on Sunday.

After suffering back-to-back defeats against Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt, Guardiola’s charges have bounced back with victories over bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers and Galatasaray in the Premier League and Champions League respectively.

Following their win over Turkish giants Galatasaray on Wednesday, City secured automatic qualification for the Champions League knockout phase after securing an eighth-placed finish in the league phase of Europe’s elite club competition.

Speaking after the win in midweek, Guardiola said: “We’re really pleased to finish top eight considering how the Champions League has become. When I started 16 or 17 years ago, qualification was not as difficult. Today, every team is really, really tough, and I’m really pleased and hopefully we can arrive in March [in the last 16] in our best [shape].”

Meanwhile, Ortega will be keeping a close eye on the City Ground this weekend as Forest play host to Palace on Sunday, with Eagles boss Oliver Glasner revealing Mateta - who is also attracting strong interest from Serie A giants AC Milan - will not be included in the matchday squad amid intense speculation over his future.