Reports from the Mirror suggests that Steven Gerrard will block any attempts made by Nottingham Forest to recall Joe Worrall back in January. James Nursey (Journalist of The Mirror) believes that the young English defender doesn’t have any recall clause.
Reports (The Scottish Sun) started doing the rounds when Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka indicated that he would look into what he can do about recalling Joe Worrall after his side was hit by injuries to some of their major central defenders. It is understood that the Tricky Trees currently have Michael Hefele and Jack Robinson as the only fit centre-back in the squad after the experienced Michael Dawson recently came down with a hamstring injury.
Ever since Aitor Karanka took over, Worrall had fallen down the pecking order, and we believe that it’s his inability to play out from the back that made the Spanish manager drop him from his plans. And as a result, the English defender was allowed to leave the club in the summer. That is one area we believe Worrall needs to improve on as he doesn’t seem comfortable on the ball when the opposition presses him.
Worrall going back to the City ground would have been a body blow for the Gers as Steven Gerrard has often used him in big encounters ahead of Nikola Katic. The opinion currently seems to be divided on who between Katic or Worrall should partner Goldson at the back. But it looks like Gerrard has already made his choice and it’s Worrall who often finds himself in the playing eleven in the crunch games.
The English defender has mostly impressed and looks like a bright prospect for the Gers and losing him in January would have been a massive blow for the club. Currently, the Gers have all their central defenders fit and available, and that is indeed an excellent situation to be in at the moment.
If the 21-year-old would have left in January, the club might have had to look for another centre-back, and that would have put more pressure on the Bears’ transfer plans in January. Now they can solely concentrate on consolidating in other positions, and they might not have to spend a few million for a defender in January with this latest piece of development.
Worrall has often maintained that he is at Ibrox just on loan and he seems to be an out and out Forest man. So maybe if the club would have had an option to recall, even the defender might have jumped ship in January. But now it seems likely that the 21-year-old is set to stay until the end of the season.
