Thirteen players were signed by Nottingham Forest in the summer, while three more players joined the team in the January transfer window. Throughout the 2023–2024 season, the Reds haven’t had much luck with loan acquisitions.
There are those who argue that Forest’s performance in the loan market this season has been nothing short of scandalous. The organization hasn’t had any issues with its permanent hiring process, but when it comes to temporary additions—oh dear!
Andrey Santos arrived first, arriving from Chelsea. Steve Cooper played him for barely seven minutes in the Premier League, despite his potential to be a wonderkid; the Blues recalled him in January in order to move him somewhere.
Forest is currently doing the same with several loanees. Borussia Dortmund’s Giovanni Reyna has arrived, and the Reds are not actually giving him many minutes either, risking the wrath of the Bundesliga team.
Another player, who is now on loan at Forest, could be in significant jeopardy come summertime. Still, Forest seems to have made a call on this player, and it seems his parent club may have as well.
Gonzalo Montiel now set for uncertain future after Forest snub
When the Reds chose to sign Montiel on a season-long loan it looked like a decent piece of business. After all, the right-back had won the World Cup with Argentina and also the Europa League with Sevilla last season.
However, things haven’t gone according to plan. He was another player who was bizarrely snubbed by Cooper and just when he was starting to get regular game time under Nuno Espirito Santo, injury issues arose.
It was revealed last week that Forest will not opt to use the £9 million transfer fee that was stipulated for Montiel as a condition of the loan. Additionally, the Argentina international will not participate in the necessary amount of games for it to become mandatory at this time.
TyC Sports has now made another unsettling allegation that Montiel needs to address. They say that Sevilla is keen to get rid of him during the summer transfer window because they don’t want him either for the upcoming campaign.
That might put Montiel in a difficult situation. He should be able to find a new club at age 26, but after his Forest fiasco, he will be hoping to receive some offers.
Forest right to offload player this summer
Perhaps Forest would have signed Montiel in an other universe. Espirito Santo has performed admirably in the games in which he has been selected ahead of Neco Williams, demonstrating his obvious ability to play.
But Espirito Santo had to have taken the decision to not sign Montiel permanently, in part because of Williams’ current form.
Since he’s been playing so well for a few months, it makes very little sense for Forest to recruit another right-back when they already have Ola Aina and Williams.
When Montiel does go, it’s difficult to see the Forest fan base being very upset with him; all he will be thinking about is finding a new club as soon as possible.
