This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Steve Cooper has told Nottinghamshire Live that he will assess whether or not a loan move should be sanctioned for Nottingham Forest midfielder Tyrese Fornah. 

The 22-year-old has not featured at all under Cooper, playing Just five minutes of Championship football this season, but signed a new deal at The City Ground earlier this week.

It appears that in January Fornah could drop even further down the pecking order, with Forest possibly adding to the squad in January to strengthen their play-off push.

 

 

Fornah enjoyed a loan spell with Plymouth Argyle last season, featuring 39 times in League One for the Pilgrims.

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts on Fornah's situation at Forest, and whether the Championship side should sanction a loan move away...

Adam Jones

He may be a talented player but a temporary spell away is required.

Forest have Jack Colback, James Garner, Ryan Yates and Braian Ojeda as options in the middle of the park, so it would almost be a waste to hold him back as a fringe player.

Yates may be operating as a centre-back at the moment, but the likes of Loic Mbe-Soh, Tobias Figueiredo and Rodrigo Ely can also play alongside Joe Worrall and Scott McKenna - and with the 3-4-3 formation in place - they probably have enough options to cope without Fornah for the remainder of the season barring an injury crisis.

Garner is due to return to Manchester United at the end of the campaign with no guarantee he will be loaned out to Forest again, so next term may be the time for Fornah to shine and at 22 - he needs first-team football above all else if he wants to succeed at the City Ground.

My message to Forest? Let him go temporarily.

Jordan Rushworth 

This seems like an ideal way for Nottingham Forest to ensure that Tyrese Fornah’s development goes in the right direction during the second half of the campaign. He is clearly a player that Steve Cooper sees as having a bright future at the City Ground and that is why they will have moved to secure his long-term future by offering him a new contract.

Fornah is not likely to break into Forest’s first-team during the rest of the season in the Championship because at the moment the more senior options ahead of him are performing and doing all that is asked of them by Cooper. Therefore, a loan move seems very appropriate for him to get more experience playing for the pressure of three points week in and week out.

There is no doubt that Fornah has the potential to be an excellent loan acquisition for a number of clubs in the lower leagues. Therefore, Forest should not be short on suitors looking to secure a move for him next month. They have to be sure that they are protecting him as best as they can by ensuring they send him to the best possible destination for his long-term term development.

Marcus Ally

There is a lot of competition for places in central midfield at the City Ground. Cafu, Braian Ojeda and Jack Colback have all been brought back into consideration under Steve Cooper which makes the pathway a little more blocked for Fornah in terms of the rest of this season.

A loan move looks to be the correct decision after Fornah gained valuable experience as a regular for Plymouth Argyle last season. The 22-year-old needs to avoid playing mainly U23 football and be in a senior environment in the second half of the campaign, that appears more likely to be possible outside of Nottingham Forest.

Therefore, with Forest’s high stakes environment and ample talent available in central midfield it is the right call for Fornah to be available for a loan move until the end of the season.