Nottingham Forest have confirmed the exit of three first team players.

In a statement released on the Reds’ official club website, the Premier League-bound team confirmed the retained list for next season.

Tobias Figueiredo, Gaeten Bong and Carl Jenkinson have all seen their time at the City Ground come to an end.

Figueiredo had been with Forest since a January arrival in 2018 from Sporting Lisbon on an initial loan deal.

That original agreement led to a permanent signing, where the defender then went on to play 122 times for the club in the following years.

Bong arrived from Brighton & Hove Albion midway through the 2019-20 season, but never quite established himself as an important member of the starting lineup.

Jenkinson likewise has been unable to become a key member of Steve Cooper’s team, and has spent the second half of the recent season on loan with Melbourne City in Australia. 

The players who arrived last year on loan have all also returned to their parent clubs.

The likes of James Garner, Djed Spence, Philip Zinckernagel and Keinan Davis have seen their time at the City Ground come to an end.

Forest will now turn their attention to completing signings ahead of the club’s first Premier League campaign since 1999 following promotion from the Championship.

The Verdict

It hardly comes as a surprise that these players have been released considering none of them were earning many playing minutes since Cooper’s arrival.

Forest now need to focus on Premier League-standard players, which the likes of Bong and Jenkinson clearly are not.

However, the loan players who have departed could be looked at for permanent moves, with interest in Spence well known.

It will be a busy summer for Forest and this really is just the beginning.