Nottingham Forest have utilised the loan market far better this summer than they did 12 months ago.
Under Steve Cooper’s tutelage, the club decided to land Andrey Santos on loan from Chelsea as the club’s domestic loan.
He played for just seven minutes at Forest before being recalled in January and being sent to Strasbourg where he really showcased his class.
The club also took Nuno Tavares on loan and the less said about that one the better.
When it came to overseas loans, Forest took a chance on a number of players.
Gonzalo Montiel arrived from Sevilla in the summer, whilst Giovanni Reyna and Rodrigo Ribeiro signed in January with limited success.
Another loanee from last season was Divock Origi and although it looked a positive one from the outset, it quickly became apparent that his best days were behind him.
Divock Origi in limbo after Nottingham Forest failure
If the striker could turn the clock back he probably wouldn’t bother heading to Forest, with his loan spell nothing short of a disaster.
He didn’t score in the Premier League and managed just a single goal during an FA Cup replay against Bristol City.
Now, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, the player has been left on the fringes at AC Milan since returning to the San Siro.
The club tried desperately to offload him during the summer but it’s claimed that his phone isn’t ringing off of the hook with offers.
Furthermore, he’s not actually training with the main squad with the Italian giants and is currently working away from the club with the help of a personal trainer.
There is scope for him to get involved with some of the sessions with the under-23s but finding a club for him is proving tricky.
Forest did well to avoid signing akin to Origi this summer
In one sense it was easy to see why Forest chose to sign Origi last summer, given his experience in the Premier League.
However, it was doomed from the off and the striker managed just 754 minutes on the pitch during his time at the City Ground.
The most damaging aspect of the addition of Origi was the £87,000-a-week in wages that Forest seemingly wasted for 12 months.
As a result, the club were never going to agree on a permanent deal and thankfully the club avoided a similar signing this summer.
The Reds added 11 players to their ranks during a very meticulous summer transfer window.
Thankfully, the club avoiding forking out a fortune for a player on big money who might have only been interested in claiming a huge pay day.
Nothing against Origi but performing at Liverpool is different to doing the goods for Forest and he simply wasn’t up to the challenge.
With that in mind, it’s no surprise to see the player struggling to get himself hooked up with a club at the moment.
