One to Watch: Nottingham Forest’s Ben Brereton should start vs Bury

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Nottingham Forest striker Ben Brereton was the subject of a late bid from Championship rivals Blackburn Rovers on transfer deadline day, according to the Nottingham Post, but the Reds stood firm and the 19-year-old remains, for now, a Forest player.

The consensus among the Forest faithful is that the talented striker is a player worth much more than the £5 million that Rovers were offering, given that he has graduated through the club’s academy, having been nurtured by the club, and based on how much potential he still has to fulfil.

It does ask the question, however, of just how much football Brereton will play for his current club and would a temporary stint away from the City Ground be good for his development?

The youngster is yet to make one of Aitor Karanka’s matchday squads this season, although he could get the chance to shine when Forest take on League Two outfit Bury in the League Cup on Tuesday evening.

Since making his debut in 2017 Brereton has netted eight goals in 53 appearances and although his game is about much more than scoring goals, that statistic suggests that his development could be best served out on loan for the 2018/19 campaign.

Forest boss Karanka tends to only play one striker and given his first three squads it would appear that Lewis Grabban and Daryl Murphy are the two players currently vying for a place in attack, something which leaves Brereton on the fringes of the first-team.

Brereton performed tirelessly last season when Forest didn’t boast such an array of attacking influx and for that he deserves credit. The harsh reality now, however, is that he just doesn’t have the same ability as other players who can play in similar positions.

The game against Bury should give the academy graduate the chance to show his manager just what he is capable of, but it is more likely to show potential suitors exactly what he could bring to their club as they compete to take him on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

Any potential deal that see Brereton leave the club temporarily should be done so with a meticulous mindset. It would be completely pointless to loan him out to a club that is going to leave him on the bench and further harm his progress.

It also vital that Forest don’t include any deal that involves the club to buy him permanently as there is enough to suggest that Brereton can still have a future at the City Ground, and given his age he could be worth a whole lot more than the fees currently being brandished around.

At this stage the notion of a loan spell is somewhat speculative, but the fundamental factor is that Brereton needs to play and it seems pretty conclusive that he won’t deal that a great deal over the next few months on Trentside.