Nottingham Forest have released their retained list and shockingly Harry Arter remains under contract for next season. The midfielder hasn’t played for the Reds since January 2021 but will remain at the club during 2023/24.
This has to go down as one of the most abysmal pieces of business ever done by the football club. Arter has made just 14 appearances for the Reds and now likely earns a fortune after a clause in his contract that gave him an extension following promotion.
Arter was signed by Sabri Lamouchi and at the time it seemed a good deal. After just two appearances for Arter, however, the manager was moved on and replaced by Chris Hughton who didn’t fancy him.
At 33-years-old, Arter looks unlikely to get himself another club. He was collecting £38,000-a-week before his promotion pay increase and it doesn’t bear thinking about what wage he takes home now.
Following today’s announcement, fans will be absolutely perplexed. The deal was staggering by the club in the first place but then everyone can be a brilliant recruitment expert in hindsight.
MORE FOREST STORIES
Arter’s career before joining Forest was pretty steady on paper. He’d played in the Premier League for Bournemouth and Cardiff, helping Fulham win promotion to the top flight during the 2019/20 campaign.
Forest announce that Arter remains under contract next season
This is bonkers. However, Forest are actually making Arter earn some of his salary and over the past 18 months he’s been doing some coaching for the academy ranks to try and obtain his badges.
Last season, he actually played for the under-21s during a Notts Senior Cup game. He played for around an hour as the Reds defeated Ollerton Town 2-1 in an entertaining game at Walesby Lane.
The Reds will have hopefully learned a lot from this deal. Arter was signed at a time when the recruitment was scattergun at the best on Trentside and now, those days must become a thing of the past.