Nottingham Forest have had some pretty tragic loan players over the years but slowly but surely they have started to at least learn their lessons.
One particularly bad loan signing came last season when Martin O’Neill took a punt on Wolves striker Leo Bonatini.
The Brazilian striker started just two games for the Reds, failing to score. In total, he managed just 158 minutes of action for Forest.
Frankly, Bonatini will go down as one of the worst loan signings Forest have ever made. He was badly short of confidence and never really looked capable of anything other than frustration.
The Reds pursuing the striker made sense. In 2017/18 he has fired 12 goals and six assists as Wolves romped to the Championship title.
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A move to Forest didn’t go to plan and this season he has headed overseas to try and rediscover his scoring touch.
The destination for Bonatini has been Portugal with Liga NOS outfit Vitoria Guimaraes.
Bonatini’s new team are in Arsenal’s Europa League group and drew with the Gunners 1-1 during the last round of fixtures.
The 25-year-old has scored twice but it’s fair to say that his new club are yet to be completely convinced by him.
Bonatini has played just 442 minutes in all competitions and is yet to establish himself as a first-team regular.
Confidence and body language were negatives when called upon by Forest. A couple of goals will have done wonders for his morale but regular football is the only thing that will truly revive his fortunes.
Point to prove
It seems highly unlikely that Bonatini will earn another deal with an English club.
His contract runs until 2022 with Wolves but Vitoria Guimaraes do hold an option to buy the striker.
His new employers will be undecided his future right now. The next few months will be integral towards Bonatini impressing his new side and it will be intriguing to see which way his form goes.
Forest won’t wonder what might have been with Bonatini. The Brazilian will be consigned to the file marked ‘flop’ when it comes to discussing his time at the City Ground.