West Ham United youngster Emmanuel Longelo missed out on the chance to join Nottingham Forest in loan after the Premier League starlet suffered a back injury, as reported by The Athletic.
Mustapha Carayol, Adama Diakhaby, Anel Ahmedhodzic, Joao Teixera, Gboly Ariyibi, Zach Clough, Alexander Milosevic, Nuno da Costa, Miguel Angel Guerrero.
These are just some of the January signings Nottingham Forest have completed in recent seasons.
And all of this is a long-winded way of saying that, when it comes to the winter window, Forest have a track record when it comes to prioritising quantity over quality.
High-risk signings over sure-things.
Though with Steve Cooper and Dane Murphy pulling the strings, a scattergun approach has given way to a more structured recruitment process.
Yes, Nottingham Forest were as busy as ever, bringing in five new players before Monday’s 11pm deadline.
But three of the aforementioned quintet – Jonathan Panzo, Keinan Davis and £2.2 million striker Sam Surridge – have played under Cooper before.
Steve Cook, meanwhile, is the very definition of a low-risk signing; Proven in the Championship and boasting a bucketload of experience.
Did Nottingham Forest ace the January transfer window?
Emmanuel Longelo, then, has more in common with Richie Laryea, the versatile defender brought in from MLS. And not just because he, like the Canada international, is at his most comfortable raiding down the left-hand flank.
21-year-old Longelo has just one first-team appearance under his belt – an EFL Cup outing in September 2020.
And, according to The Athletic, a chance to get some much-needed experience under his belt went up in smoke.
An ill-timed back injury denied Longelo a mid-season loan move to Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town, Peterborough United or Wycombe Wanderers.
Longelo, valued in the region of £1 million, may have felt like something of a stab in the dark for Forest, given his lack of senior exposure.
But Cooper’s terrific track record when it comes to developing up-and-coming talent – he guided an England side containing Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi to U17 World Cup glory – suggests that this is a loan move that would have benefit all parties.
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