Rodrigo Ely has been speaking to Mundo Deportivo regarding his recent departure from Nottingham Forest.
The Brazilian defender exited the club in January having failed to make a single appearance or even make a single matchday squad.
Ely is now a free agent and having been released during the transfer window, he’s free to sign for another club as soon as he wants.
Chris Hughton added Ely shortly after the transfer window had closed in the summer.
Shortly after, the boss departed and he feels this played a huge part in his Forest career taking a pretty unfortunate turn.
He told Mundo Deportivo: “I arrived on the last day of the transfer window.
“I was injured and I didn’t have time to train. So, we agreed that I would go through a pre-adaptation period of a month and a half.
“But the coach who brought me in (Hughton) left. And they brought in another coach (Steve Cooper) with other ideas, more focused on young English players.
“I want to play.
“We agreed that the best thing for me was to look for another club. I feel ready and I want to play football.
“I have a desire to return to my country (Italy). But if there is an interesting project in Spain, obviously I will put it on the table, that is clear.”
Ely never got the chance to show Forest fans his capabilities
Signing a player who spent a lot of last season nursing a cruciate ligament injury in his knee epitomises the approach of former Evangelos Marinakis lieutenant Ioannis Vrentzos.
Thankfully, these deals look to be a thing of the past with every January deal smacking of Dane Murphy or Cooper having their say.
Ely had enjoyed a decent career and at 28-years-old he didn’t exactly arrive at Forest at the end of his career.
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It was always going to take a settling in period though; especially given the serious nature of his knee problem during 2020/21.
Forest have Joe Worrall, Scott McKenna, Tobias Figueiredo and now, Steve Cook, all vying for places at centre-back.
That was never going to make life easy for Ely and offloading him on a free transfer made absolutely perfect sense.
Forest must ensure they are savvier in the transfer market going forward.