Joao Carvalho has had a very disappointing time at Nottingham Forest considering the hype his signing generated back in 2018.

After making 38 Championship appearances in his first season at the City Ground, he was starting to be utilised less and less until the attacking midfielder was finally sent out on loan to UD Almeria in the Spanish second tier last September.

Interestingly, the Segunda Division outfit had the opportunity to make this deal a permanent one this summer, although that’s an option they haven’t decided to take up.

Even though you have to take into consideration that Sabri Lamouchi was Forest’s manager when this agreement was struck and his successor Chris Hughton may want to take a look at the Portuguese 24-year-old, other officials who are still at the club went along with this deal.

And you have to wonder whether the Irishman has been privately advised against keeping Carvalho in the first team for next season.

Considering the events of the past two seasons with multiple managers at Nottingham Forest refusing to use him and then being shipped out on loan, it would also take a miracle for Carvalho to revive his career in England.

With this, the Championship side must be weighing up the pros and cons of cutting their losses on him in the next month after spending a club-record £13.2m fee on the attacking midfielder three years ago.

He signed a five-year contract at the City Ground when he first arrived in England that summer, meaning he still has two years left to go on his current deal despite failing to make a big impact in the East Midlands.

Whether they will be able to find a permanent destination remains to be seen but with Forest still probably able to get a reasonable fee for him considering his current contract situation and the high wages he’s likely to be on, it’s probably time for the second-tier side to sever ties with their former marquee signing.

 

 

This revenue generated from the potential sale should then be fully injected into Hughton’s transfer budget, perhaps allowing him to make a few signings after Carvalho’s wages have been cleared off the books.

It’s not even extortionate transfer fees or a lack of revenue during the pandemic that’s come back to haunt some teams in the EFL with financial fair play rules, it’s their uncontrollable wage bills and the potential sale of Carvalho could help to free up the salary space for Forest to bring in a few reinforcements.

But what should they do with this money? And which positions should they target?

Firstly, they can inject these funds into an attractive contract offer to Brennan Johnson. The 20-year-old is a prized asset they need to keep hold of if they want to improve their attacking record from last season.

Secondly, they need to make a few attack-minded signings to complement the winger.

After scoring 37 goals in 46 league games and completely letting down their defence who conceded just 45, it’s quite clear the East Midlands side need to revamp their attack before the window closes at the end of August, both in terms of creativity and potency.

This means multiple signings will be needed to address this problem and after only seeing backup goalkeeper Ethan Horvath join the club as their sole signing of the summer so far, the Championship club’s fans will be desperate to see the addition of some attacking firepower.

It’s painfully clear they need a couple of additions even with Johnson’s return from his Lincoln City loan spell - and hopefully their strong interest in Dinamo Zagreb striker Sandro Kulenovic is a sign of things to come.