‘Unbelievable feet’: Who is Nottingham Forest trialist Liam Sole?

Follow us on Google Discover

Former MK Dons youngster Liam Sole featured for Nottingham Forest’s U23s and scored but will the Championship high-flyers give him a contract?

A mysterious figure going by the name of ‘Trialist’ shone and scored for Nottingham Forest during a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United’s U23s on Monday night.

But it wasn’t the fleet-footed French midfielder Ilyas EL Khabchi, who is apparently set to sign for the East Midland giants if TEAMtalk are to be believed with Sabri Lamouchi very keen to see whether the 21-year-old can make the grade at the City Ground.

Thanks to the Nottingham Post, the trialist’s identity has been revealed. It is Liam Sole, the former MK Dons flyer whose contract expired in July.

For whatever reason, Sole failed to make his mark at the Stadium MK but if he wants to secure a contract with the Championship high-flyers then he’s certainly got about things in the right way. The 19-year-old was arguably the stand-out performer against The Blades and marked the occasions with a fine, albeit deflected, equaliser.

And a display full of energy and skill will have come as no surprise to Ian Allinson, who was blown away by Sole’s potential during a loan spell at St Albans City last season.

“Liam has showed all week in training that he’s very bright. He’s a great talent and he’s got great energy. He’s very quick, unbelievable feet, but there are just a couple of areas [he needs to improve],” the St Albans manager told The Herts Advertiser.

“He’s got in two or three times where he’s put their fella on his backside and just needs a little bit of calmness in terms of where he puts the next ball.”

It remains to be seen whether this was Sole’s one-and-only chance to impress at Forest or whether he will be given another couple of run-outs before the two-time European champions make a decision about his future.