Ian Wright knew £8m Nottingham Forest player would be a star after ‘watching’ him as a youth player

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Nottingham Forest have a number of top people inside the dressing room right now and the rewards are being reaped on the pitch.

The Reds are fourth in the Premier League after 16 games of the campaign and it’s fair to say that Forest just won’t go away right now.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
4	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	16	8	4	4	21	19	2	28

With 28 points from the matches played so far, the Reds are only four points away from last year’s total of 32 from 38 matches.

Nuno Espirito Santo has been praised by Jamie Redknapp recently and he’s a superbly talented head coach, with Forest lucky to have him.

The camaraderie in the City Ground ranks looks to be sky-high at the moment and hopefully, Forest can continue this fine form that has been evident this season.

• READ MORE: Lineker and Shearer in agreement over Forest star

Ian Wright raves about Forest player Ola Aina

The club managed to sign Aina on a free transfer from Torino in the summer of 2023 and it’s been a brilliant piece of business.

It’s not the first time that he’s been praised but now Wright has given an alternative 2024 award to the Forest man.

Wright has named Aina as his Vibes Player of the Year for 2024 and enjoys watching him play on a regular basis.

He told the Wrighty’s House Podcast: “I’m going to go with Ola Aina at Forest. I remember watching him at the youth team at Chelsea, he was one of those great youth team players that they had with Chalobah and Dominic Solanke. He seems to still play with the same vibrance that he had then, he’s got great energy, lots of pace; he’s left foot, right foot, so I’m going to say him. I get good vibes off of him.”

Forest must give Aina a new contract

The player is showing remarkable form at the City Ground and he deserves to stay!

It’s not ideal that the club only gave him a one-year extension last summer and that might have been the time to give him a longer contract.

The Reds need to make sure they don’t become the sort of club that offloads their best players for free and Aina has earned a long-term contract.

The 28-year-old still has years left ahead of him and Forest should give him the type of deal that could see him finish his career on Trentside.

Aina can play in both full-back positions and hopefully, there will be some positive news on that front in the coming weeks.