Nottingham Forest signing Stefan Ortega has admitted he would have preferred to go back to Germany in January.
Kicker cover comments from the new Nottingham Forest goalkeeper today. He admits he had his eyes on a return to his homeland.
Ortega departed Manchester City over the weekend, joining Nottingham Forest until the end of the season. He had found himself out of the picture at the Etihad following the summer arrivals of Gianluigi Donnarumma and James Trafford.
They left him as number three under Pep Guardiola, leaving him without a single appearance this season to his name.
It was a dramatic drop off for a goalkeeper who had player 56 games for City since joining them in 2022 and played a key role in their Premier League title win in 2024. He played 22 games last season too.
Now he’s joined Nottingham Forest, who are in need of reinforcements after John Victor was ruled out with a knee injury. Matz Sels is also now injured, forcing Angus Gunn into an unexpected debut over the weekend.
That provides Ortega with an opportunity to get regular playing time until the end of the season. If he’s fortunate, it could earn him a place in Germany’s squad for the World Cup. It seems, though, that Ortega would have liked a different move.
“The door was open, and now the door is closed. It didn’t work out,” he ‘lamented’ to Sky Sports.
“I would have liked to come back to Germany. The past few days have been exciting. In the end, I didn’t expect anything to come of it.
“Now I’m happy to be at Nottingham Forest until the summer. Of course, I hope to play as many games as possible; that’s why I made the move.”