Report: Nicolas Ioannou set to leave Nottingham Forest

Nicolas Ioannou is set to end his short stay at Nottingham Forest by signing for Greek outfit Aris Thessaloniki.

According to Nova Sports, a deal which sees the left-back end a three-month spell on Trentside is close to completion.

Ioannou only arrived at the City Ground in October, joining for £750,000 from APOEL.

He played five games for the Reds and was sent off during his last outing against Luton Town in November.

The 25-year-old had looked pretty steady during the early stages of his Forest career.

He made his debut in the 2-1 defeat to Bristol City and kept his place for contests against Blackburn, Rotherham, Derby and Luton.

His sending off at Kenilworth Road has perhaps cost him a chance to further impress Chris Hughton.

The Reds boss has preferred Yuri Ribeiro at left-back since and the Portuguese star is edging back to his consistent best.

What has gone wrong for Ioannou?

In truth, not a lot.

He was sent off against Luton and Hughton just hasn’t deemed it necessary to restore him to his team ever since.

Ribeiro has made the position his own of late, with Gaetan Bong acting as the competition from the bench.

There could be a case of Ioannou not really settling into the English way of living.

Ioannou hasn’t even made the bench for the last six matches and has dropped firmly off the radar.

In a sense, this deal isn’t perhaps a bad thing. It gets a surplus player off the books and helps balance an extremely bloated squad.

It does offer a firm reminder of just how the club’s recruitment needs to change, however.

Forest have added far too many ordinary players in recent years who have been offloading a few months down the line.

Ioannou wasn’t a bad player but it’s fair to say that he wasn’t an upgrade on Ribeiro who is a firm fan favourite.

Forest will hope the defender isn’t the last to leave the City Ground this month.