Oliver Glasner is set to be appointed as the new head coach of Nottingham Forest this week, and the squad will be eager to impress.
There will be a number of players buoyed by the arrival of a manager who has won the FA Cup and the UEFA Conference League over the last two seasons.
Elliot Anderson has sealed a move to Manchester City, but it’s anticipated that the rest of the club’s star players will remain in place for the 2026/27 campaign.
There could be a shot at earning redemption arcs for some players and perhaps Morato will have extra incentive to kick on during pre-season ahead of the next campaign.
Morato could kick on under Oliver Glasner
Glasner will come in with a full pre-season to work with his players, and he will likely get stuck straight into adopting the 3-4-3 that has served him so well at other clubs.
Name one Crystal Palace star you’d love to see join Glasner at Forest 👀
Glasner is a superb man-manager, and furthermore, he’s tactically one of the best head coaches currently operating in the Premier League.
Now, suggesting Morato might kick on could prove a strange thing to say given that some Forest fans are desperate to see him sold this summer, but hear me out!
For starters, it’s easy to forget owing to his uncompromising persona that he’s only 24 and Morato has never really been given a solid run of games as a starter.
Under Glasner, Morato is tailor-made to slot into the left-sided central defender role, with Murillo in the middle and Nikola Milenkovic on the right.
With better players alongside him and an attack-minded wing-back – likely Neco Williams – around him, Morato has shown that he’s capable as long as he keeps things simple.
Morato is left-footed, can play passes out from the back, and as long as Glasner can shake the errors out of his game, he’s showcased that there is a defender in there.
It might prove unpopular that Morato should earn a reprieve under a different manager, but after showing flashes under Vitor Pereira, the Brazilian deserves another Forest opportunity under Glasner.
Morato was named in the Europa League Team of the Season
Given that Morato was named in the Europa League Team of the Season, it’s clear that there is quality when it comes to Morato.
The player does make mistakes, but at the same time, he wasn’t alone in that sense last season, and during the 2024/25 campaign, he was largely good from the bench.
Glasner will surely want to have a look at all of his players and Morato won’t be an exception to that and the ball will be in the court of the defender to grasp his chance.
Glasner will quickly make his mind up on the Forest squad, and it’s vitally important that Morato steps up and grasps his opportunity.
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