Why James Garner might not be heading back to Nottingham Forest

James Garner's future looks set to be away from Old Trafford, after Manchester United decided to cash in on the academy product.

Despite the clamour from United fans to hand the 21-year-old a first team opportunity, the hierarchy are instead poised to offload him in the hope they can bring in between £15-20million. Many have assumed Garner would be a prime target for Nottingham Forest, the club where he prospered on loan last season.

Garner played a big part in Forest clinching promotion back to the Premier League after a 23-year absence. In what was his second temporary stint in the East Midlands, his four goals and eight assists proved pivotal in aiding Steve Cooper's side back to the top flight.

Read more : United decide to sell Garner

A loan arrangement that would have seen Garner despatched to the City Ground for a third time had been mooted but that possibility is now firmly dead in the water. That is because Forest already have United goalkeeper Dean Henderson on loan.

As per Premier League regulations, no top flight club can borrow more than one player from the same team. That would mean the only way Forest could re-sign Garner, who proved a hugely popular figure during both previous spells, would be on a permanent basis.

However, Cooper has already been busy strengthening his side with no fewer than 15 new signings having arrived so far. Among them are a clutch of players who also play in Garner's central midfield role including Lewis O'Brien, Orel Mangala and Remo Freuler. This makes a return for Garner unlikely, given it will only bloat their engine room options even further.

Garner has made seven senior appearances for United although you have to go back to December 2019 for the last of those, in an EFL Cup