Nottingham Forest defender Jonathan Panzo made a fine start to life at Coventry City yesterday. He played the full 90 minutes as the Sky Blues drew 1-1 with Sunderland.
A goalkeeping error from Simon Moore allowed Jack Clarke to open the scoring for the Black Cats. They looked on course for an opening day win until Viktor Gyokeres scored six minutes from time.
Panzo was signed by Forest in January. He checked in from Dijon and made a single appearance away against Hull City on the final day of the 2021/22 campaign.
The youngster was part of Steve Cooper’s squad back in 2017 when England defied the odds to win the World Cup. The Forest head coach has now linked back up with him and he looks set for a bright future.
Panzo was allowed out on loan, with Forest set to embark on Premier League football. The 21-year-old made a wonderful start and earned himself an 8/10 from Coventry Live.
The publication said about Panzo’s performance: “Strong and aggressive in the air and brought the ball out of defence well. Hit a terrific 25-yard shot which Patterson tipped onto the crossbar.
“Guilty of giving the ball away on a couple of occasions but overall an impressive competitive debut from the Forest man who looks a decent loan signing.”
Panzo enjoys fine start and there will be more to come
This looks like a perfect loan move for Forest. Panzo was always going to head out on loan but getting the right club for him was always going to be the challenge.
Mark Robins might have pulled off a masterstroke. Not only that but the way he likes his teams to play should give Panzo a taste of what he will be required to do back at Forest.
The Coventry boss utilises a back three and Panzo loves playing in the left-sided position. It’s where he will hope to play back at Forest and as a result, the loan move should work like a dream.
At 21 the future looks very bright and there is even an element of his game that suggests Panzo is capable of scoring goals for Coventry during 2022/23.