Nottingham Forest opinion: Joao Carvalho linked with exit – good move?

According to a report in Nottingham Post, Nottingham Forest’s record signing Joao Carvalho is being linked with a move away from City Ground in the summer transfer window. Greek side Olympiacos are said to be interested in signing the midfielder.

Forest signed the 22-year-old last summer, for a club-record fee of
£13m from Portuguese side Benfica (h/t Sky Sports). He was a regular feature in the starting XI when Aitor Karanka was in charge.

But, since the arrival of Martin O’Neill, Carvalho hasn’t been in the line-up for some time now. He has made one start and appeared off the bench six times since (h/t Nottingham Forest).

However, here’s why Nottingham would be making a mistake by letting the 22-year-old go in the summer, especially 12 months after signing him for big money:

Carvalho is a talented player who has multiple qualities

Firstly, Joao Carvalho is a versatile midfield player, who can operate as an attacking midfielder or as one of the central midfielders. He is a fantastic passer of the ball, can dribble past people in tight areas and possesses a good turn of pace on the ball, to make space in between the lines.

In 35 league appearances, the 22-year-old has played 25 times as an attacking midfielder, rest as a central midfielder (number eight). With a return of four goals and six assists. He has shown that he can be use as a creative player in the team.

If we look at his other numbers, Carvalho has supplied key passes at a rate of 1.1 per game. We were talking about his good dribbling, he has done that successfully on an average of 1.2 this season. His passing rate is close to 78%, which epitomises the good work he can do on the ball. (Whoscored)

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Forest under O’Neill and without Carvalho starting in the team haven’t been good. The best solution would be to keep the player, with the manager handing him the starting place with a hope that the Portuguese youngster takes his chances.