Aitor Karanka is already making an impact at Championship giants Nottingham Forest as he attempts to return to his former club for Bamford and Clayton.
Aitor Karanka was only confirmed as Nottingham Forest’s new manager on Monday, but the Spaniard is not waiting around to get stuck into the transfer market.
According to the Northern Echo, Karanka has already identified two players he wants to reunite with at the City Ground this month, including a former Forest youngster.
The report states that Forest will join the lengthy list of clubs keen to hand Adam Clayton an escape route from Middlesbrough; the out-of-favour midfielder having slipped down the pecking order since the appointment of Tony Pulis in December.
The Yorkshire Post last week claimed that Aston Villa, Cardiff City, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday were all monitoring Clayton. Leeds, meanwhile, were hoping to bring him back five-and-a-half years after he left Elland Road for Huddersfield Town.
Karanka knows Clayton well, the former Manchester City youngster having played a major role as his Middlesbrough side were promoted to the Premier League in 2016.
And the Northern Echo adds that Karanka will also return to his former club in an attempt to bring Patrick Bamford back to where he started his professional career. The enigmatic striker enjoyed his finest spell under Karanka at the Riverside, winning the 2014/15 Championship Young Player of the Year award during a loan at Boro from Chelsea.
The report adds that an approach for Bamford would be on the ambitious side, with Middlesbrough having paid an initial £5 million for the Forest academy graduate, but Karanka could use some of the funds left over from the sale of Britt Assombalonga in the summer.
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