Nottingham Forest moved to sign Ibrahim Sangare following the departure of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham in the summer of 2023.
With Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi already signing to bolster the wide areas, Forest chose to spend the Johnson cash on a defensive midfielder.
Fast forward 18 months, and the jury remains out, to a certain extent, on Sangare.
The Ivorian has had a bit of an ordeal at Forest, with Steve Cooper playing Sangare out of position and then injury and illness robbed him of a chance to immediately impress Nuno Espirito Santo.
This season, things went awry for Sangare once again after a promising start to the season, with a hamstring problem ruling him out after he’d made the most tackles in the Premier League after four games.
But what does the future hold for Sangare? He’s not started a Premier League game since the start of the campaign and has played for just 14 minutes in the top-flight since the start of March.
How Nottingham Forest feel about Ibrahim Sangare
According to journalist Graeme Bailey, there are no immediate plans or thoughts for Forest to offload Sangare in the summer.
Forest could be in Europe next season, with the Champions League still in the sights of the club and that level of experience will be needed next season.
Bailey has told Nottingham Forest News that Sangare isn’t necessarily being targeted for a departure this summer.
He said: “Clearly his future will be looked at, they like him as a player, a lot, but the former of Yates and Anderson has been outstanding.
“But I don’t think they will be driving him out – Forest and the Champions League is more than a pipe dream at this point, and so as we have seen with Aston Villa, you need a deep squad and don’t think Forest will look to lose too many.”
What Steve Cooper told Sangare when he signed for Forest
One very alarming aspect of Sangare, whenever he’s played for Forest, is the number of yellow cards he picks up.
In 28 appearances for the Reds, Sangare has been booked on nine occasions, and he is prone to a cynical tackle or two.
Cooper admitted when he was managing the player that he’d been forced to have a chat with Sangare about the yellow cards he kept needlessly picking up.
Cooper claimed he told Sangare: “I had a good chat with him. What we have learned, since we have been in the Premier League, is that it can take some time to realise what it’s like. English football is different in the way it’s played, in the intensity, in the way it’s refereed. There has to be a realisation of that.”
If Forest decide to keep Sangare, he will hope to truly establish himself at the club next season.
European football being on the cards should help him do that with more fixtures on the agenda and Sangare could get a proper chance to showcase his quality.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
