Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has confirmed that he and his coaching team will analyse James Garner's loan spell at Nottingham Forest in the "next couple of weeks."
The England Under-21 international joined Forest for a second time last August on loan for the duration of the 2021/22 season and has enjoyed a highly successful season at the City Ground. Reunited with former England Under-17 manager Steve Cooper, Garner has played an influential role in turning the Championship club from relegation candidates to promotion contenders.
With eight games left to play, Forest are currently fifth in the table and have two games in hand on the other three sides that currently occupy the play-off berths. They were bottom of the table after seven games and have since been transformed by Cooper after he took charge in mid-September.
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Much of their success has been built on the performances of their young talent, including Garner. The United loanee has been a joy to watch in the centre of midfield, establishing himself as one of the best all-round midfielders in the league.
He has set his sights on becoming a first-team regular at Old Trafford next season and the supporters are desperate to see him earn an opportunity under the new regime, which is poised to be led by Erik ten Hag. Current Reds interim boss Rangnick has admitted that he has not seen much of Forest this term, but plans to keep a close eye on them in the near future to assess Garner's development.
"To be honest I haven't seen that many games of Nottingham Forest but I will probably do that in the next couple of weeks with my staff and the analysis team," Rangnick told United's website. "I've heard he's scored four goals and had four assists [in the league] there, but my focus, as you can imagine, has been on the current team in the last weeks and months.
"This is certainly good if players get game time somewhere and do well, and this is the idea behind a loan period."
Garner has been nothing short of outstanding this term, producing an array of eye-catching performances, not just in the Championship but also in the FA Cup. Forest beat Arsenal [1-0] and Leicester City [4-1] on route to the quarter-finals and were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Liverpool last month.
The United loanee was excellent in all three of those fixtures and provided enough evidence to show that he can compete with the very best that the Premier League has to offer. In total, he has made 38 appearances this term, scoring four goals and claiming six assists in all competitions.
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