Nottingham Forest have 12 players who will be out of contract in less than 18 months – Luke Steele, Alexander Milosevic, Michael Dawson, Yohan Benalouane, Jack Robinson, Ben Osborn, Claudio Yacob, Adlene Guedioura, Ben Watson, Liam Bridcutt, Daryl Murphy, Karim Ansarifard.
Steele has made five appearances for Forest since joining last summer from Bristol City. The 34-year-old has spent his debut season as backup to Costel Pantilimon in the Championship and may be allowed to run his deal out at the City Ground.
Milosevic and Benalouane have impressed in the short time they’ve been at Forest, forming a formidable defensive partnership while Dawson and Figueiredo have been sidelined with injury. Martin O’Neill may be looking to keep the duo for longer than 18 months if their impressive form continues.
Robinson and Osborn could also be kept for the long-term as they’re both regulars in the starting eleven. Bridcutt, however, could be moved on as he can’t get back into the first-team and has spent a lot of the campaign with the reserves.
Yacob, Guedioura, Watson, Dawson and Murphy aren’t getting any younger so they may see their contracts out at the City Ground in 2020. Getting the average age down will be a priority in the coming seasons, so it’s hard to see the older fringe players sticking around for long.
Ansarifard can barely get into the side in his debut season, so it will be a surprise if he’s still at Forest after this summer.
Crippy Cooke’s previous article
Opinion: Nottingham Forest won’t sign out-of-favour player on a permanent deal this summer
