Nottingham Forest are set to make an important decision over whether to send Anthony Knockaert back to Fulham, with West Brom winger Kamil Grosicki a potential replacement, as per The Sun journalist Alan Nixon.
Knockaert has not been able to produce the sort of form that he would have been hoping to do at the City Ground since he arrived on loan from Fulham in the summer. The winger has managed to register just one goal and one assist for the Reds in 16 Championship appearances (Sofascore) and he has often struggled to produce the right final ball in the last third.
Chris Hughton would have been going he could get the best out of the 29-year-old who he worked with to excellent effect at Brighton, and he scored 15 goals in the 2016/17 season to help fire them to promotion (Sofascore). Forest are lacking goals and creativity in the final third and will need to address that in the winter window.
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It has now emerged that the Reds are wanting to offload players in January to make room for some much-needed attacking additions, and Forest are contemplating over whether Knockaert should be kept hold of or sent back to Fulham, per The Sun journalist Alan Nixon. While it has also been suggested that Grosicki may well be lined up as a replacement.
The verdict
Knockaert looked like an assured signing by Forest in the summer, especially with the connection back to Hughton. However, the winger has only been able to average 0.7 shots and one key pass per game for the Reds so far this term (Sofascore). That has seen him frustrate supporters and fail to help improve their fortunes in the final third.
The 29-year-old is a player with a lot of ability when he is on his game, but he might be too much of a luxury player to have for a side in a potential relegation battle. Forest need to consider whether they can get the best out of him and if they decide they can not then they need to act quickly to send him back to Fulham and bring in a replacement.
Grosicki has not been featuring much for West Brom in the Premier League this term, but the Poland international has plenty of Championship pedigree and can drive at players in possession and create in the final third. It would be no surprise to see Forest go back in for him after they narrowly missed out on adding him to their squad in the summer.