Nottingham Forest star deserves new deal after pocketing Traore and Wilson – opinion
The Reds won after a rampant first-half display.
Goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi and Chris Wood had Forest 2-0 up inside 20 minutes, with Morgan Gibbs-White adding a third in stoppage time at the end of the first period.
It was the sort of performance that really showcases what certain players are capable of. Gibbs-White was stunning and earned praise from Nuno Espirito Santo, Hudson-Odoi produced arguably his best Forest showing and Danilo came in from the cold to stake his claim for a place.
Now, Forest can take a little bit of confidence into their next few games. The Reds go to Tottenham on Sunday before another winnable home game against Wolves, who much like Fulham, don’t have a deal left to play for.
Ola Aina was a player in fine form for Forest on Tuesday night and now some news about him has come to light. It would appear that Espirito Santo is impressed with him and now a decision on his future is going to be made.
Well, this has come to light from The Telegraph journalist John Percy who often has his finger firmly on the pulse at the City Ground. He’s claimed that a new deal for Aina will be a formality, with Forest set to trigger an extension.
Aina signed for the club on a free transfer from Torino in the summer. He was the first player to officially check in at Forest during a transfer window that saw 13 players added and he’s proved a useful addition.
The Nigerian made his return to the team against Crystal Palace at the weekend. He’d been injured since returning from the African Cup of Nations where Aina earned rave reviews as Nigeria reached the final of the tournament.
Now, Forest are going to move to keep Aina at the club. Percy believes the clause in his contract allows the Reds to keep him for another year and this could be announced pretty quickly it would seem.
In total, Aina has played 16 times in all competitions for Forest. He’s scored a single goal against Aston Villa, whilst he’s also claimed an assist during a 3-2 defeat against West Ham in November.
It’s very rare that a left-back stands out during a 3-1 victory when Forest could have scored six or seven and nobody would have batted an eyelid. However, that’s what Aina managed to do for Forest on Tuesday night.
Who Scored shows that Aina was bang in form. They have down as making three successful dribbles and five interceptions during his 82 minutes on the pitch for the Reds.
Furthermore, he wasn’t afraid to mix it up and completed three of the five long balls that he attempted on the night.
It was an interesting one for Aina as the Forest man came up against two different wingers – and managed to pocket them both!
Harry Wilson started the game but was one of three players subbed off after just 33 minutes by Fulham boss Marco Silva – with Adama Traore replacing him.
Aina didn’t have an issue with either winger as Forest claimed a big win. Wilson is known for guile and trickery, whilst Traore is rapid when he gets going but then the Reds star is clearly no slouch.
Forest often get criticised for their occasionally haphazard approach to recruitment. However, their call to pluck Aina on a free transfer looks like a strong one and a new contract would be richly deserved.
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