Sunday’s developments may impact Nottingham Forest’s hopes of summer Man United deal: Opinion

There will have been plenty of fans of EFL clubs watching on gleefully as Manchester City embarrassed rivals Manchester United at the Etihad but Sunday’s developments may prove bad news for Nottingham Forest moving forward. 

Such was United’s dominance of English football under Sir Alex Ferguson that many clubs up and down the country felt the Red Devils’ wrath during the Scot’s tenure, and their supporters may be happy that the Old Trafford outfit are suffering themselves now.

As they did back in November, City completely outclassed their local rivals in yesterday’s Manchester derby and controlled the game throughout – with the United players seemingly throwing the towel in after they went 3-1 down in the second half.

No one linked to the visitors will have been happy with what happened at the Etihad yesterday but James Garner may benefit from the fallout.

The midfielder is currently thriving while out on loan with Nottingham Forest and previous reports have indicated that he’s keen to establish himself in the United senior squad next season.

The club’s technical director, Darren Fletcher, has already revealed that Garner will rejoin the first team squad ahead of pre-season but there have been suggestions that a Premier League loan could follow.

That would seem to leave the door open to Forest re-signing the 20-year-old on loan for a third time, assuming of course that Steve Cooper’s side secure promotion in the 2021/22 campaign.

However, the dismal performance of the midfield in the 4-1 hammering at the Etihad yesterday indicates just how necessary the injection of some fresh talent could be to United’s midfield.

While Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes had their moments, the usually combative Scott McTominay failed to