Two pros and two cons to Nottingham Forest signing Luke Steele

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Nottingham Forest have been busy adding players to their squad this summer, with boss Aitor Karanka signing no fewer than 10 new players to his squad ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.

According to the Nottingham Post, another recruit might not be too far away in the shape of former Bristol City goalkeeper Luke Steele who is currently a free agent after leaving the Robins in the summer.

The Reds are hoping to agree terms with the experienced Championship custodian to add back-up to the squad for current number one goalkeeper, Costel Pantilimon, who signed from Premier League Watford earlier in the close season.

With the Trentsiders on the verge of completing a deal to add yet another player to their crop of players, we took a look at two pros and two cons to Forest securing a deal for Luke Steele.

Pro – Proven Championship experience

The 33-year-old comes with vast experience in the second tier of English football and is quite easy to see why manager Aitor Karanka wants to take him to the City Ground.

One thing the Forest boss is extremely keen to have within his squad of players is competition for places and it is pretty safe to say that the Reds would have two vastly experienced goalkeepers in their ranks if they can secure a deal for Steele.

Con – Hampers Jordan Smith’s development

Smith was dropped from the Forest first-team last season when Pantilimon joined the Reds on loan and it appears quite evident that Karanka doesn’t really fancy the academy graduate as someone who can be a first choice goalkeeper.

You could argue that a move to sign Steele will allow the Reds to set Smith up with a loan spell which would allow him to play regular first-team football, but given Forest’s proud history of allowing young talent a platform to play in the first-team, it seems obvious that some will view this as a blow to Smith.

Pro – Ability

Make no bones about it, Steele is still a very good goalkeeper. Despite his age of 33, the agile and commanding stopper was in scintillating form for Bristol City when he was called upon last season.

Forest will undoubtedly start with Pantilimon between the posts to start the campaign, but Steele will give the Reds a reliable goalkeeper should he succumb to injury or suspension during the season.

Con – Forest stockpiling goalkeepers

It is quite amazing that Aitor Karanka has managed to tempt his board into signing another goalkeeper given just how many Forest currently have on their books.

Pantilimon is joined in the goalkeeping ranks by Jordan Smith, Stefanos Kapino, Stephen Henderson and Dimi Evtimov, with Steele set to join the ever-growing list of stoppers.

It would come as little surprise if the Reds were forced to offload one or two of the aforementioned prior to any deal involving Steele signing on the dotted line.