Tendayi Darikwa was full of praise for teammate Arvin Appiah, saying the 17-year-old has a “great future” at Nottingham Forest. Appiah has risen through to youth ranks to the Forest first-team this season, being named in the matchday squad for three of The Reds’ four EFL Cup games.
On October 30, he was given his senior debut in the competition against Burton Albion and managed to cap the brief performance off with a goal. Aitor Karanka has praised the teenager this season and Darikwa believes Appiah could go far at the City Ground.
As per Nottingham Live, he said: “He has been great. He has good quality. He is still very young, so we need to make sure he has the time to develop. He is a good kid who listens to the manager. Like I said, he has great talent. If he continues to listen and work hard – which he has been doing – I am sure he will have a great future here.”
Appiah has represented England at u16 and u17 level, scoring two goals in total, and may bounce between the Forest first-team and u18s this campaign. There’s stiff competition in the senior squad for places, with Joe Lolley, Diogo Gonçalves, Gil Dias and Matthew Cash all ahead of Appiah in the pecking order, but he’s taken his opportunity to impress with both hands.
With Forest doing so well in the Championship this season, the right-winger will have to remain patient for opportunities, but he should take hope from the number of youngsters that have been utilised under Karanka in 2018/19 – Cash, Carvalho and Goncalves are all 21 or under and have collectively racked up 2041 minutes of playing time in the Championship.
