For all the flashes of brilliance he has shown at Nottingham Forest, Joao Carvalho has never really realised his full potential at The City Ground.

The attacking midfielder certainly promised plenty following his arrival at Forest back in the summer of 2018, but gradually found himself slipping down the pecking order at the club, particularly under Sabri Lamouchi last season.

Perhaps as a consequence of that, this summer saw Carvalho head for pastures new - for the time being at least - as he joined Almeria in the Spanish second-tier on a season-long loan.

Since that move, Carvalho has at least been given more of an opportunity to prove himself in recent months, featuring in eight games for his temporary new club.

However, it should be noted that during that time, the 23-year-old has completed a full match just once, while he has yet to score a goal for Almeria, and has only provided a single assist.

As a result, it does seem as Carvalho's longer-term future is somewhat up in the air at the moment.

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While Almeria do have the option to make his move permanent next summer, it could be argued that he will need to make a significant impact for them to do that, while there is also a financial aspect to throw in in the current climate, and you wonder whether the club may need to win promotion to La Liga if they are to afford that.

Currently, Almeria sit fifth in the Spanish second-tier table - enough for a play-off place - two points adrift of the automatic promotion spots.

If however, Almeria were to decide not to make Carvalho's move permanent, it is possible that the attacking midfielder's prospects at Forest could get interesting.

Given Carvalho's loan move this summer was completed prior to Lamouchi's sacking and Chris Hughton's appointment, you wonder whether the new Forest boss could be tempted to give him another chance at The City Ground next summer.

If he isn't, then with Carvalho's contract with the Championship club not set to expire until the summer of 2023, Forest would surely have to find a move away from the club for Carvalho - either permanently or another loan - to give him the game time he wants and avoid a potentially unwelcome distraction.

That of course, could depend on how much Carvalho is able to impress Almeria, Forest, or any other club between now and the end of the season, meaning you feel he is going to have to improve his returns in Spain sooner rather than later, if he is to have a chance of getting some sort of opportunity beyond the end of this season.