Nottingham Forest look to have found the perfect setting for Jorge Grant to develop into a fine goalscoring midfielder.
Nottingham Forest and Notts County have a strange relationship for two clubs in the same city, with the gap between the pair preventing any real rivalry.
Derby County are Forest’s main nemesis and so they have little issue sending their best young stars to Meadow Lane – as they have with Jorge Grant.
And there are few better places for a talented prospect to develop in the Football League right now than under the watchful eye of manager Kevin Nolan.
Grant has come on leaps and bounds at the League Two side, netting 19 goals in all competitions across two loan spells prior to Tuesday’s clash with Yeovil Town.
Forest fans will be delighted to see Grant regularly on the scoresheet – he is Notts’ top marksman this term – and yet it is no surprise that he has discovered a golden touch when working with Nolan.
The former Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United and West Ham United man was one of the best goalscoring midfielders of his generation, hitting double-figures on numerous occasions.
And he is clearly passing these skills on to Grant, even if the pair are two very different players.
Grant has showed the predatory instincts that Nolan made his name from and, despite occasionally occupying a wide role, he has clearly benefited from any advice passed onto him, timing his runs perfectly to ghost into the area in a similar fashion to his manager.
This is good news for Grant but also great news for Forest. “We’ve just got to enjoy him while we’ve got him,” Nolan told BBC Radio Nottingham in September and he can surely expect the player’s parent club to be interested in a recall.
Whether Grant is ready for Forest’s first team, a permanent move elsewhere or a loan to a League One side, Nolan has played a crucial role.
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