Ryan Yates has been the one constant at Nottingham Forest since the club won promotion back to the Premier League in 2022.
The club captain is the sole survivor from that promotion-winning campaign, and he will once again try to lead by example next season.
Yates wasn’t always considered the first choice in the Forest midfield last season, with a host of options for Nuno Espirito Santo to choose from.
The player wears his heart on his sleeve at the City Ground, and after Anthony Elanga signed for Newcastle, Yates has been discussing how he truly feels about the decision.
Forest midfielder Ryan Yates
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images
Ryan Yates shares how he feels about Anthony Elanga transfer
Clearly, losing such an influential player has had an impact on the dressing room and Yates was quizzed on the departure of Elanga after yesterday’s 0-0 draw with Chesterfield.
It would appear that Elanga was extremely popular and Yates hasn’t masked just how much the players at the club will miss the Swedish winger.
He told The Athletic: “Anthony – what a player; what an impact he has. His performances speak for themselves, but he was such a big character around the dressing room as well. He was a really top lad and he will be thoroughly missed.”
Elanga made 32 goal contributions in two seasons with Forest and after signing him for £15 million, he has been sold for almost £60 million.
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Forest need to replace Elanga
The need for new signings is now urgent and with five weeks to go until the start of the new Premier League campaign, things need to heat up.
Forest are going to be desperately short in attack with Morgan Gibbs-White set to go to Tottenham and Ramon Sosa already departing for Palmeiras.
Elanga will be sorely missed, not least because of his blistering pace and his ability to turn defence into attack extremely quickly.
Forest have to get busy in the transfer market and there really is no time to waste now as Espirito Santo looks to ensure his squad is well-stocked for next season.