Nottingham Forest could be about to unearth the next gem from their academy.
Over the years, Nottingham Forest have become a pioneer for churning out talent from their academy and allowing them to flourish in the first-team.
Current players Joe Worrall and Ryan Yates’ path to the first team stemmed from excelling in the underage groups, earning a call-up to the senior squad and playing significant roles in the club’s upward trajectory, making a combined 391 appearances and counting.
On the other hand, the likes of Matty Cash and Brennan Johnson have come through the academy set-up, risen to stardom at the City Ground and then departed the club for pastures new having developed into high-value assets.
While Cash joined Aston Villa for £16m in 2020, Johnson’s electric performances in the Premier League last term earned him a £47.5m move to Tottenham this summer.
The talent being churned off the conveyor belt at Forest continues to overflow and the next highly-rated youngster hoping to make his mark in the first-team is 20-year-old winger Brandon Aguilera.
Who is Brandon Aguilera?
A Costa Rican international, Aguilera joined the Reds on a four-year deal from LD Alajuelense in July last year and was instantly loaned back out to Guanacasteca and then Estoril.
While those loans equipped the 20-year-old in how to deal with the hardships of senior football, his return to the City Ground has been well received by Steve Cooper, who spoke highly of the winger and the level of maturity he’s shown since moving to England.
He said: “We’ve been really impressed with him, to be honest – his level and his attitude. He’s not from round the corner, is he?! He’s come over here, and for him to settle in like he has, he has a maturity about him.
“He’s a young player who we are enjoying putting a programme in place for. But that will be with us for the medium-term until January, and then we will assess it again then.”
Cooper isn’t the only person to wax lyrical about Aguilera’s bright prospects, Forest players have picked up on his talents too with Moussa Niakhate dubbing him as a “baller” after he demonstrated some fancy footwork in one particular training session in the pre-season camp in Spain.
After shining bright under the watchful eyes of his teammates, he has since taken that momentum into this campaign, chalking up two goals and one assist in three Premier League 2 appearances, starring alongside the likes of Jamie McDonnell and Ateef Konate.
In the past, Cooper has shown he isn’t afraid of throwing youngsters in at the deep end and if Aguilera can continue this early season form, he could get rewarded with opportunities to impress in the first team, potentially rivalling summer signing Anthony Elanga.
How has Anthony Elanga performed for Forest this season?
Similarly to Aguilera, Elanga is a highly-rated young winger who joined the Reds in a £15m move from Manchester United this summer.
The 21-year-old – who has been praised by Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a “great talent” – has so far endeared himself beautifully to the City Ground faithful, assisting Taiwo Awoniyi for his goal against Arsenal and firing home the winner against Chelsea as Forest recorded a famous victory at Stamford Bridge.
With a Sofascore rating of 7.07, Elanga has performed consistently when called upon and has caught the eye with his searing pace and powerful ball carrying, ranking inside the top 7% for progressive carries and top 20% for successful take-ons per 90 when compared to positionally similar players across Europe’s top five leagues in the past year, as per FBref.
Aside from demonstrating his ability to burst past defenders at pace and carry Forest into dangerous areas on the counter, Elanga is far from the finished article and given his age, that is to be expected.
The Sweden international falls short when it comes to his output in the final third, and although he’s shown glimpses this season, ranking in the top 43% for non-penalty xG and top 46% for assists suggests that his end product can be improved with Aguilera aiming to take advantage of this chink in his armour.
Elanga is statistically better than Aguilera but if the Costa Rican can continue elevating his game to new heights, he could soon rival the 12-cap Swede for a place in the starting XI.
