Martin O’Neill said he “will look” at signing Jack Colback “in the near future” if an agreement can be reached with Newcastle United. The defensive-midfielder has been in fantastic form for Nottingham Forest since re-joining on loan last summer and has a buying option attached to his contract that would allow Forest to sign the 29-year-old to the City Ground permanently.
Colback has made 28 Championship appearances for the Reds this season, scoring two goals. He’s been a regular at the heart of the midfield, missing only five league games throughout the course of the campaign – three of which were yellow card suspensions. He captained the side against Preston North End over the weekend and is an important player under O’Neill.
The Forest manager said to Nottinghamshire Live: “In terms of long-term future, it is really early for me to be deciding these things. I am not exactly sure, to the nth degree, what the agreement is with Newcastle. I will certainly have a look at that.
“I think your opinion that he has been one of the better players this season is pretty well the same thought around the dressing room as well. I have not got into the contractual details of his situation, but I will look at this situation in the near future.”
Colback forged a formidable partnership with Claudio Yacob under Aitor Karanka earlier in the season, but O’Neill has tried to replicate such magic using Ben Watson alongside him. Colback has played 2498 minutes from a possible 2970 in 2018/19. He’s one of the first names on the teamsheet and would be a fantastic acquisition if they could turn the move permanent.
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