Joel Ndala’s arrival at Nottingham Forest was a shock to everyone when he signed on transfer deadline day, but there seems to be a carefully thought-out reason for the deal.
Ndala signed for Forest from Manchester City with mere minutes to spare on deadline day in February to an even mix of excitement and confusion from Reds fans as to where this deal had arisen from.
Especially given that Evangelos Marinakis wanted to sign a striker in January, it seemed odd that a exciting, but raw winger was brought in on short notice, with confusion growing even more when it was revealed that Ndala was a signing for the Forest Academy, not the first team.
While not much was known about the England youth international, Ndala outshining the likes of Ethan Nwaneri with England made the deal a whole lot more interesting for Forest fans.
However, talent was not the only reason that drove Marinakis to want to bring Ndala in, as one journalist has revealed a clever reason why the former City gem has even more potential value to the club.
Photo by Alex Caparros - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Photo by Alex Caparros – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Joel Ndala could have homegrown value for Nottingham Forest in the future
Ndala had a promising debut for the Forest B team, which would’ve undoubtedly caught the eye of Nuno Espirito Santo, but the 18-year-old’s value remains very much tied to remaining in the Forest Academy.
The reason for this was explained by Forest journalist Paul Taylor, who spoke for The Athletic during a Q&A about the club to explain why the Reds’ lack of first-team-ready homegrown players may have driven the move for Ndala.
Taylor said: “Forest would definitely be short of homegrown players who are club-trained. This is one of the reasons why Joel Ndala was definitely an academy signing rather than one for the first team immediately.
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“Not just because he is still very raw and a long way from being ready for this level, but because in the future he will qualify as being club trained, after a period of time.”
There was a thought that Espirito Santo could use Ndala against Exeter City, but as Taylor explained, he is more valuable to the club if he remains in the youth setup to continue to build up this homegrown status, which may be about to become incredibly valuable for Forest.
How many homegrown players Nottingham Forest need for UEFA competitions
As the Premier League is now guaranteed five Champions League spots for next season, it’s looking more and more likely that, barring a catastrophic drop in form, Forest will be playing in a UEFA competition of some sort next season.
This means that a number of homegrown players will need to be found to have a full 25-man squad available to Espirito Santo, something that isn’t currently looking too likely.
According to UEFA: “Locally-trained or ‘homegrown’ players [are] those who, regardless of their nationality, have been trained by their club or by another club in the same national association for at least three years between the age of 15 and 21.
“Up to half of the locally-trained players must be from the club itself, with the others being either from the club itself or from other clubs in the same association.”
Each squad requires eight homegrown players from the same nation, but four must be trained at Forest. Currently, the only guarantee for the squad would be Ryan Yates, with Zach Abbott probably the second most likely to be included.
Therefore, developing a player like Ndala to become a homegrown Forest talent will have long-term value for Marinakis and Forest, even if next season may be a challenge in terms of fulfilling the UEFA squad rules.