A report from The Guardian has claimed that Steve Cooper didn’t want to bring Philip Zinckernagel back to Nottingham Forest.
The Danish performer was an integral part of the team as the Reds won promotion to the Premier League.
He was signed by Chris Hughton ahead of the 2021/22 campaign but starred under Cooper’s management.
Zinckernagel signed for Watford in January 2021 and helped the Hornets win promotion to the Premier League.
Following Forest reaching the promised land, it was anticipated that the club would try and keep the squad together.
Instead, a string of high-profile signings were made and Cooper wasn’t keen on bringing Zinckernagel back to the club.
It’s not really a major surprise that the Danish performer wasn’t re-signed by the club.
He’s never played in the top-flight and Morgan Gibbs-White was identified very early as the club’s number one target.
With that in mind, it always seemed unlikely that Zinckernagel would be returning to Trentside.
Jesse Lingard was also signed by the Reds and that further complicated matters regarding the loanee.
Evangelos Marinakis was keen not to miss out on Zinckernagel completely, however.
He took him to Olympiacos where he made just seven appearances before heading to Standard Liege on loan.
Cooper didn’t want Zinckernagel back
This news isn’t particularly surprising, as harsh as that might sound towards the 27-year-old.
Zinckernagel was an underrated member of Cooper’s team during 2021/22.
He scored seven goals and claimed 10 assists from 50 appearances in all competitions last season.
The former Hornets man worked tirelessly for the team and made the number 10 spot his own.
Still, there were doubts over his Premier League credentials and Cooper naturally thought the club could attract better.
Gibbs-White is an upgrade on Zinckernagel and as a result, it would seem that Cooper has been justified in that particular decision.
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