Aitor Karanka admits he’s “surprised” by Joao Carvalho’s form for Nottingham Forest, as he predicted the 21-year-old would take more time to settle in England. Carvalho joined the Reds from Benfica over the summer and has scored and created nine goals in 17 Championship starts.
He bagged a goal in Wednesday’s 5-5 draw with Aston Villa and is yet to miss a league outing. The attacking-midfielder was one of four Portuguese players brought in by Forest in the summer transfer window, with Gil Dias, Diogo Goncalves and Tobias Figueiredo signed from AS Monaco (loan), Benfica (loan) and Sporting CP respectively.
Figueiredo has been a regular at the back alongside Michael Dawson in recent weeks, Dias has played in 17 of Forest’s 19 league games but has failed to score or make an assist. Goncalves has been short of playing time this season, however, making just three league appearances and managing just 122 minutes for his troubles.
Carvalho, however, is one of the first names on the teamsheet and has been thriving. Karanka said to Nottingham Live about the No. 10: “It has been a surprise, because at the beginning, in pre-season, maybe the highlights were in Gil and Diogo. But since the first game of the season we could feel that Joao has settled in really well. Now he is improving.
“His game on Wednesday was amazing and he has been here just for three or four months. When he is more confident, he will play better. He understands this league better now and the better players you have around you, the easier it is.”
Carvalho has helped Forest move into the playoffs, with Karanka’s men currently in sixth place with 31 points.
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