With David Vaughan aged 34 and Chris Cohen strucky by injuries in recent seasons, Nottingham Forest’s attempts to sign Fulham’s Kevin McDonald make sense.
Fulham’s Kevin Mcdonald
Ask anyone to list the star attractions of Slavisa Jokanovic’s thrilling Fulham side and you’ll likely be greeted with a cacophony of Tom Cairneys, Ryan Sessegnons and Sone Alukos.
Only the regular Craven Cottage matchgoers would namecheck The Cottagers’ Mr Consistency. Yet, there’s a reason Kevin McDonald played all but one of Fulham’s 46 Championship fixtures in 2016/17.
Because the 28-year-old defensive midfielder is the glue that holds this uber-attacking side in place, his razor sharp passing and ability to shield the defence resolutely making him one of the first names on the team-sheet.
No wonder, then, that Fulham want to hang onto the Scot. However, HITC sources told us that Nottingham Forest have now joined Reading and Rangers in attempting to lure McDonald from Craven Cottage just twelve months after he arrived from Wolves.
Manager Mark Warburton is understood to be a keen admirer of the classy central midfielder and will be given money to reinforce an unbalanced squad by new owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton
Though Warburton may have a hard sell aiming to encourage McDonald to turn his back on a side who reached the play-offs for one who only stayed up on the final day of the season.
However, it’s clear that Forest should pull out all the stops to sign one of the most under-stated, under-rated players in the second tier. After all, Warburton will know that veteran midfield duo David Vaughan and Chris Cohen can’t go on forever.
Nottingham Forests’ Chris Cohen played just 20 times last season
The experienced pairing were exceptional in the final weeks of the season and have both been rewarded with contract extensions. However, with Vaughan 34 and injuries preventing Cohen from playing more than 30 league games in a season since 2012/13, their interest in 28-year-old McDonald could be viewed as a contingency plan.
And an inspired one at that.
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