Moussa Niakhate has been spotted praising Nottingham Forest midfielder Brandon Aguilera after a recent training session. The Costa Rica international is with the first team in Spain as they get put through their pre-season paces.
Aguilera signed for Forest from Costa Rican outfit LD Ajajuelense last summer. It wasn’t clear what to expect from the player and he was quickly loaned back to his homeland with Guanacasteca.
He spent the first six months of the campaign in Costa Rica but was recalled in January. Forest were keen to hook him up with something in Europe and sent him to Estoril in Portugal until the end of the campaign.
It has to be said that his second loan wasn’t particularly good. He didn’t make a senior appearance for the Portuguese outfit, scoring once in nine outings for the under-23s.
Aguilera is now back at Forest and he will be keen to impress. On Saturday, he played for the opening 45 minutes against Notts County and showed some pretty sharp touches.
MORE FOREST STORIES
Naturally, against League Two opposition, he should have looked pretty comfortable. However, this is a player that might take some time to adapt to football in England.
Now, it looks as though he’s impressing the first-team squad too. After he’d taken part in a training match, Niakhate was spotted on the club’s YouTube channel, where he said: “Brandon, Brandon, what a baller. What a baller!”
Steve Cooper must have been relatively impressed with the player. It was announced last week that he’d decided to take him on the pre-season tour to Spain and more minutes could be forthcoming.
Forest face Valencia later this evening. On Saturday they take on another La Liga outfit with the Reds set to lock horns with Levante.
Niakhate impressed with Forest starlet Aguilera during training
This is a positive step made by Cooper with Forest now in Spain. At 20, Aguilera has loads of time to improve and he looks to have bags of potential.
On Saturday, he didn’t look fazed against a side that was more settled than the team that Forest played. He made some smart passes and constantly showed for the ball.
It’s good that players like Niakhate are starting to recognise his talent. The player is 20 and he wouldn’t actually need registering for Forest’s matchday squad if they decide not to loan him out.
Of course, the player still has to prove himself. By doing the business on the training ground, however, he’s doing himself no harm at all of impressing Cooper.