Nuno Espírito Santo and the Nottingham Forest squad are getting stuck into their pre-season training camp in Portugal, but one first-team member is surprisingly absent.
The pre-season camp has obviously been an afterthought for Forest fans currently due to the Morgan Gibbs-White situation, but Gibbs-White has flown out to Portugal to at least ease the nerves.
Focusing on Portugal, Murillo has been impressing in training, while Reds fans will have been excited to see Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha in action for the first time in Forest colours.
However, keen-eyed supporters will have noticed in the images and videos that the club have released that one star is not with the Forest squad, despite performing well against Chesterfield and AS Monaco.
Nottingham Forest star absent from Portugal training camp
Espírito Santo’s side are set to face Premier League side Fulham and Portuguese outfit Estoril during the camp, accelerating the preparation for the opening game of the season against Brentford.
It looks as if Gibbs-White will play a role in the friendlies, but the side will be without Brazilian goalkeeper Carlos Miguel, who has seemingly not travelled to Portugal.
Matz Sels and Forest academy graduate Aaron Bott are the two keepers present at the camp, with Miguel nowhere to be seen in the footage released by the media team.
The 26-year-old played 45 minutes in both of Forest’s opening two pre-season games, keeping two clean sheets and making decent saves in both games. Therefore, Miguel’s absence is rather surprising, perhaps suggesting that his future at the City Ground is uncertain.
Clubs have shown interest in Carlos Miguel in the past
Forest have been actively selling off the fringe talent in Nuno’s squad, first selling Ramon Sosa to Palmeiras, which was quickly followed by Danilo’s switch to Botafogo.
The Brazilian clubs could well be keeping a close eye on the Miguel situation, too, with one side’s interest dating back to March.
Cruzeiro had shown interest in Miguel a long time before the 24/25 season came to a close, a campaign that saw the breakthrough of Matz Sels as one of the Premier League’s top goalkeepers.
Whether he leaves or not, it’s already been said that Forest want to bring in a new backup keeper, which would likely leave Miguel as either third choice or surplus to requirements.
Given that Bott is training with the first team in Portugal, you’d think that he would be preferred as the third choice, making Miguel’s future uncertain.
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