Chris Hughton has been left ‘stunned’ after Dan Gosling decided against joining Nottingham Forest from Championship rivals Bournemouth during the January transfer window, as reported by the Sun (29 January, page 55).
Is this a decision the veteran midfielder will live to regret?
Bournemouth may be sitting pretty in the play-offs, 14 places and 17 points better off than Forest, but it seems unlikely that Gosling will play a major role in an ongoing promotion push.
The former Everton youngster has played just nine minutes of football in the Cherries’ last seven league games after all.
And with Jack Wilshere set to be joined on the South Coast by another new face – Preston dynamo Ben Pearson will undergo a medical at the Vitality in the next few days (Echo) – Gosling is at risk of slipping even further down the pecking order.
But, according to the Sun, the 30-year-old still wasn’t tempted by the chance to play week in, week out at the City Ground. Despite holding talks with the two-time European Champions, Gosling had a change of heart and decided to turn down Nottingham Forest; much to Hughton’s disbelief.
The Forest boss worked with Gosling at Newcastle United a decade ago and may have presumed that the professional relationship between player and manager would seal a deal.
Relegation-threatened Forest did succeed in bringing in Filip Krovinovic on loan but missed out on his former West Brom teammate Kamil Grosicki.
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