When Loic Bade joined Nottingham Forest on loan during the final few hours of the summer transfer window, he would have touched down in the Premier League hoping to remind his critics why he was once dubbed the second coming of Raphael Varane at RC Lens.
While Rennes were willing to splash out £17 million to bring him to Brittany back in 2021.
Instead, Bade looks set to be on the move again, a grand total of zero league appearance under Steve Cooper raising more questions than answers about a player who’s reputation has taken quite the beating over the last 18 months or so.
According to The Athletic, Bade’s loan spell is ‘likely’ to be cut short next month. The former France u21 international hasn’t even been included in Nottingham Forest’s matchday squad for the last five domestic fixtures, with Cooper reportedly feeling that he is simply not be ready for the rigours of Premier League football.
“Loic hasn’t featured yet,” Cooper said in October, via the Nottingham Post. “But he’s training very well, he’s settling in. His English is getting much better. He has a good attitude towards training and good self-belief.
“It’s one of those things where you just have to work hard and wait for your time. When that is, that will be down to a number of factors.”
Nottingham Forest could replace Loic Bade with Jamil Siebert
At this stage, an opportunity for Bade feels unlikely ever to arrive. Despite injuries to Guilian Biancone and Moussa Niakhate, the one-time Arsenal and Liverpool target is still behind Joe Worrall, Willy Boly and Scott McKenna in the pecking order. The versatile Chiekhou Kouyate can also play at centre-half.
What’s more, Nottingham Forest’s interest in 20-year-old Jamil Siebert only adds fuel to the speculation suggesting that Bade’s City Ground career could come to an end after just four months.
“It is true that the two clubs (Forest and Roma) are interested in Jamil,” Siebert‘s agent tells BILD. “Jamil is very well regarded in England and Italy. (He has) had offers from Leicester City and AC Milan in the past.”
At 6ft 3ins, Siebert feels like a readymade replacement for Bade; tall, promising and strong in the challenge. Current employers Fortuna Dusseldorf have made it clear that they have no plans to sell the Germany youth stopper in January.
A seven-figure bid from Nottingham Forest may be enough to twist their arm, however.
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