Nottingham Forest are preparing for a vital Premier League run to preserve their top flight status, but one player has already made up his mind about staying for the long-term.
Nottingham Forest suffer last-gasp Liverpool defeat
Forest were magnificent on Sunday afternoon.
They pressed Liverpool off the park in the first half, created the better chances throughout and had every right to expect at least a point from a game their opponents barely deserved to be in at times.
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Arne Slot himself admitted that his side got more than they deserved. Jamie Carragher, never one to mince his words, called it one of the biggest robberies of the Premier League season.
Yet, the scoreboard at the City Ground read 1-0 to Liverpool by the full-time whistle.
Alexis Mac Allister, deep into the seventh minute of stoppage time, pounced from close range to break Forest hearts. Vitor Pereira, still finding his feet after arriving earlier this month, was blunt in his assessment.
Zero points, he said, was simply not fair.
He was right, but fair does not always come into it in a relegation battle.
Forest now sit two points above the drop zone with a daunting run of fixtures ahead. Pereira has breathed new life into the club since Sean Dyche's departure, and the performance against Liverpool — following their commanding 3-0 win at Fenerbahçe in the Europa League in midweek — showed that this squad has genuine quality and fight.
The problem is that the margins in the bottom half are brutally thin, and reports claim that Pereira will likely be sacked if he cannot keep Forest afloat.
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It is against that backdrop that news has emerged about one of the forwards Pereira has inherited — a player who arrived full of promise last summer but barely featured before leaving on loan in January.
Arnaud Kalimuendo wants to leave Nottingham Forest for good
Arnaud Kalimuendo, the 24-year-old French striker signed from Rennes in August 2025, managed just two goals in 14 appearances before falling completely out of the picture at the City Ground.
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Managerial upheaval and a failure to settle quickly in England all played their part.
In January, Forest sent him to Eintracht Frankfurt on a loan deal that included an option to buy — and the move has been a revelation.
Three goals and an assist in eight games for the Bundesliga side have caught the attention of the club's hierarchy and their manager, Albert Riera.
Internally, Frankfurt want to keep him beyond the summer, and Kalimuendo himself is keen to stay in Germany and leave Forest for good.
Nottingham Forest's Callum Hudson-Odoi and Nottingham Forest's Arnaud Kalimuendo react after Swansea City's Cameron Burgess scored their third goal
According to Bild, the two parties have already discussed terms surrounding a five-year deal with a salary of around £2.5 million per year.
However, Frankfurt have told the player and his agent that a final decision will come at the end of the season.
There is one significant caveat. If Frankfurt fail to qualify for Europe, German media suggest a permanent deal becomes virtually impossible.
For Forest, a permanent exit at £23.5 million (Frankfurt's option to buy) would at least represent solid business around a player who never found his feet in England.
But right now, with the club clinging to survival by their fingernails, the bigger questions are far closer to home.
Kosovo's Leon Avdullahu in action with Slovenia's Zan Vipotnik Related
[Nottingham Forest and West Ham neck and neck racing for "clinical" striker with 18 goals in 2025-26](https://www.footballfancast.com/nottingham-forest-and-west-ham-soar-into-transfer-race-zan-vipotnik/ "Nottingham Forest and West Ham neck and neck racing for "clinical" striker with 18 goals in 2025-26")
The Tricky Trees are keen on a centre-forward.