Report: Nottingham Forest decide whether to trigger buying option for striker

According to Tim Spiers of the Express and Star, Nottingham Forest will not trigger Leo Bonatini’s buying option this summer. The 25-year-old will return to Wolverhampton Wanderers after his failed loan spell at the City Ground that saw him make just five appearances in all competitions.

Bonatini’s last outing for Forest was against Hull City on March 9. He was an unused substitute against Aston Villa days later but was left out of the matchday squad for the remaining nine games. The Brazilian expressed a desire to turn his loan move permanent in March, but Forest aren’t likely to oblige.

He failed to score or make an assist in his five months at the City Ground and racked up a paltry 158 minutes of football. With Lewis Grabban, Daryl Murphy and Karim Ansarifard for competition, Bonatini was fighting a losing battle to be given an opportunity under Martin O’Neill.

The striker fell out of favour at Wolves in a similar fashion, regularly featuring in the first couple of months but finding chances coming few and far between after a period. Bonatini amassed only 128 minutes of Premier League football before he joined Forest, but his temporary switch didn’t see him get more playing time.

Crippy Cooke’s previous article