On transfer deadline day, Nottingham Forest beat Aston Villa to the signing of Loic Bade from Rennes.
The Premier League newcomers agreed a loan deal for the 2022/23 campaign with the option to make it permanent for a sum of €14m (£12m) in 2023.
It was Foot Mercato who revealed that Aston Villa wanted Bade, and the Villans could now have an earlier than expected second chance to sign the defender.
Why Aston Villa could sign Nottingham Forest outcast
Well, the France Under-21 international is surprisingly yet to feature for Nottingham Forest, and Steve Cooper hasn’t even named him amongst the substitutes since his deadline day move to the City Ground.
Now, French news outlet Foot-Sur7 have claimed that Bade could make a premature return to Rennes, as he finds himself ‘down in the dumps’ at Nottingham Forest.
To make matters worse for the 22-year-old, Rennes actually went on to sign Christopher Wooh as his replacement, with the Ligue 1 side expecting that £12m option to be triggered by Nottingham Forest.
Of course, it still could be activated, but Cooper clearly hasn’t liked what he’s seen from the centre-back in training so far, so a lot will need to change.
Loic Bade can turn things around at Nottingham Forest
In our view, Cooper needs to trust Bade.
The Frenchman is a huge prospect, and it wasn’t too long ago that Arsenal wanted to bring him to the Premier League to play alongside another French colossus in William Saliba – that was according to Calciomercato.
There is a fine player in there somewhere, and Bade deserves a chance with those ahead of him not exactly performing well – Nottingham Forest currently sit 19th in the Premier League.
If Cooper doesn’t give him a chance, and someone else goes on to benefit from the youngster’s talent for just £12m, those at the City Ground may end up kicking themselves.
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