Nottingham Forest legend Garry Birtles has suggested on the Garibaldi Red podcast that the club shouldn’t sign Anthony Knockaert.
The 29-year-old will return to Fulham during the summer when his season-long loan sting at the City Ground comes to an end.
Knockaert played at Bristol City on Saturday but hadn’t featured in the three games prior to that, with Forest drawing twice and drawing at Brentford.
The ex-Brighton winger is a respected player in the eyes of Chris Hughton; although his goal and assist haul hasn’t proved great at the City Ground.
As a result, Birtles has indicated that the player must do more if he’s to earn an extension to his City Ground stay.
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The European Cup winner concedes that he has quality but believes he perhaps hasn’t done enough.
He told the Garibaldi Red podcast: “He has the ability but at times he gets it wrong in good positions. His decision making is dreadful at times.
“It can sometimes be all about him, instead of bringing others into play.
“You can’t afford to keep having that. He was brought in to be a creative element.
“He does look exciting when he gets around the box, with all the tricks and stepovers. But when you go beyond that, there hasn’t been a great deal so far.”
Should Forest extend Knockaert stay?
Birtles does make some extremely valid points regarding the Frenchman.
His three goals and three assists are probably below where the club expected him to be with five games of the season remaining.
Some woeful finishing from his teammates has cost him a few more assists but occasionally he has been frustrating.
Knockaert does try to make things happen, however, and he does always give 110% to the team.
The big factor in the summer will be whether the numbers can stack up.
Hughton clearly likes Knockaert but Fulham will want a transfer fee and he earns a salary of £35,000-a-week right now.
There’s no way Forest will part with such a salary to sign Knockaert. As a result, it’ll be interesting to see what happens regarding the winger during the summer.