Nottingham Forest could face a battle to keep hold of Joe Worrall after it emerged that Arsenal are tracking the centre-back following his impressive start to the season.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes at the City Ground, as he spent last season on loan at Rangers as it appeared he had no future at the club.

However, he is an influential player under Sabri Lamouchi, featuring in every league game so far and his performances have been crucial to helping the Reds into the top six.

And, that appears to have caught the attention of the Gunners, with Football Insider claiming that they will send scouts to watch the player against QPR tonight.

Obviously, Forest would not want to lose the academy graduate in the New Year but here we look at TWO knock-on effects of a potential transfer...

It will impact their promotion push

After years of struggling, Forest are finally in a very good place and promotion looks a realistic possibility under Lamouchi.

Worrall has been crucial to that and if he did leave in January it would be a big loss when you look at the performances he has put in this season.

When you consider the riches of the Premier League, it would be a risky decision to let the defender go.

They could strengthen elsewhere

Even though Worrall has been superb, his potential exit may not be the end of the world - because he will command a very big fee.

Forest actually have a lot of options in defence, it's perhaps the one area they can afford to lose a player.

So, if they got a big fee that could help them sign a top class striker to help Lewis Grabban and a goalscoring winger then it could make the team better on the whole.