Nottingham Forest have agreed a deal to re-sign Aston Villa midfielder Gary Gardner on loan according to the Nottingham Post. The move is expected to be finalised and confirmed within the next 24 hours.
The 23-year-old, who has recently signed a new contract with the Premier League strugglers, is expected at the Nigel Doughty Academy tomorrow to complete a medical and re-sign for the club. The duration of the deal is expected to see him remain at the City Ground for the rest of the season.
Gardner previously spent the second part of last season with Dougie Freedman’s men, although he was originally signed by Stuart Pearce. He joined in January 2015 and scoring four goals during his time with the club, including a wonder-goal against Reading. That strike can be seen in the video below.
The energetic midfielder soon found himself becoming a fans’ favourite amongst the Forest faithful, mostly because of his consistency, as well as the ability to produce a spectacular strike on goal from distance.
The England Under-21 international has found it hard to break into a struggling Aston Villa side at present, with the club seemingly destined to potentially face Nottingham Forest in a Championship fixture next season. He is still highly-regarded by Villa, hence the long-term contract he signed last summer. Therefore it Villa do go down, it may help his chances of playing more football. Nevertheless, he’ll return to Forest and will undoubtedly play a key role for the rest of the season.
