Nottingham Forest have been dealt a blow in their bid to bring James Garner back to The City Ground this summer.
What’s the talk?
According to a report by Football Insider, Manchester United are planning to offer the 20-year-old a new contract at Old Trafford before loaning him out once again for the 2021/22 campaign, with multiple Championship clubs believed to be interested in the England U20 international.
However, The Sun recently reported that, despite Forest’s interest in securing a second loan deal for the midfielder this summer, Garner could actually be heading for a move to Sheffield United, with the Blades’ strong relationship with United mentioned as an important factor in the potential deal.
Hughton will be fuming
Considering just how impressive Garner was for Forest last time out, should Chris Hughton miss out on re-signing the United starlet ahead of the new season, it would undoubtedly leave the 62-year-old fuming.
Indeed, over his 20 Championship appearances last season, the £3.6m-rated man scored four goals, as well as taking an average of 1.6 shots and making 1.1 key passes per game.
The man Fred dubbed an “incredible” player also impressed in more typical metrics for his position, making an average of two tackles, 1.7 interceptions and 1.2 clearances per match.
These returns saw the £16k-per-week midfielder earn an average WhoScored match rating of 6.98, ranking him as Hughton’s best performer in the second tier.
As such, with Hughton hoping to put together a side that is capable of much more than their mediocre Championship finish last season in their upcoming campaign, bringing last term’s best player back to Nottingham this summer would certainly appear to boost the 62-year-old’s chances of doing so.
However, with promotion hopefuls Sheffield United now looking to be leading the race for the youngster, the Forest manager may have to turn his attention regarding midfield additions in the summer transfer window elsewhere – something that would be a gutting outcome for the boss and fans of the Garibaldi alike.
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