Aitor Karanka wants to trim his Nottingham Forest squad before the transfer deadline closes. According to the Nottingham Post, there are eight individuals that he is looking to shift in order to reduce the vast number of players at the City Ground.
At the time of writing, Nottingham Forest have over 30 first-team players on their books. Whilst Spaniard Karanka is still looking to add more quality and fresh faces, there are certain players that have no future and are free to go. Karanka recently said he wants those players to be realistic, as ‘expectations are big’ in the eyes of certain players.
Armand Traore and Andreas Bouchalakis are the latest two to move on, but there are still a further eight that Karanka does not required.
One of those is Michael Mancienne. The versatile defender recently turned down the chance to move to Turkey along with the now departed Traore. The 30-year-old has been with the club since 2014, but is now sliding down the defensive pecking order.
Former Rangers winger Barrie McKay is seemingly someone that Karanka is not desperate to retain. He was a regular substitute towards the end of last season and is certain not a key player anymore, which is what then manager Mark Warburton embarked him for when snapping up him last summer.
Jamie Ward ended the previous campaign helping Cardiff City win promotion into the Premier League. That seemingly was not enough to force him way into Karanka’s thinking at the City Ground. The Northern Ireland international has also spent time on loan at Burton Albion in the time since he made the permanent switch to the Reds.
Greek striker Apostolos Vellios has been frequently linked with the exit door and a move away seems inevitable at some stage. Zach Clough has been a major disappointment since he joined from Bolton Wanderers. He returned to his ex-club on loan last season, and didn’t make much of an impact on his return. Tricky winger Gboly Ariyibi is another that arrived with a decent reputation, but has not demonstrating those levels at all in the first team. This trio played in a recent Under-23 friendly.
Finally, goalkeeping duo Stephen Henderson and Dimitar Evtimov will only be keeping the goalkeeper coach company on the training ground this season, unless they move on.
