Having been at the club since he was eight, Ryan Yates could soon find himself becoming part of the furniture at the City Ground.
Football Insider are reporting that Nottingham Forest are in the process of negotiating a new deal with the 21-year-old. My colleague Crippy Cooke believes that tying down Yates for a new long term deal is excellent news for the club, and this is true, but he needs to be given ample opportunity to showcase it this season.
As I’ve discussed before, I believe that Lamouchi will be going with a 4-3-3 formation, similar to the way he played with Ivory Coast. Now whilst the reports of Joao Carvalho making a move away aren’t going away anytime soon, if Forest do manage to keep hold of him, then I think there’s an excellent midfield duo in the making there between him and new signing Tiago Silva, with loan signing Alfa Semedo behind them protecting the back four.
Where does that leave Ryan Yates? He could start a battle with Adlène Guédioura to be Semedo’s backup. However, there are reports that Guédioura could be on his way to the Middle East, but ultimately I think he’ll find his way on the bench this season.
You don’t bring in someone on loan to put them on the bench, and unless there’s a significant drop in either Carvalho or Silva’s play from last season, he’s not getting in front of them in the starting line-up.
The long and short of it is, Yates has the potential to be a great little player, his goal and assist return so far in his career is very impressive, but he needs to keep up the run of games that he had towards the end of last season where he was given the chance to shine. I fear that these new signings could be a huge stumbling block in his progress if he doesn’t get enough game time.
The cup competitions are going to be very crucial for him if he is to impress the new boss, that is assuming he even rotates, because it is all well and good being locked down, but if all you’re going to be doing is be sat down on the bench, then you’re not really much good to anyone.
