Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Adlène Guedioura has revealed that he ‘tried everything’ to return to the club on a loan deal from Crystal Palace during his first season with the club.
The Algerian was a fan favourite at the City Ground after arriving from Wolves, initially on loan, in January 2012. The temporary deal was made permanent the following summer.
But the player was with Forest for just another year before Crystal Palace came calling, his performances earning interest from the Premier League club. He completed a move to Selhurst Park in the summer of 2013, but says it’s a move that he made reluctantly having failed to help Forest into the league themselves.
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“In that moment, it was a hard choice because it was not expected,” he told Nottingham Forest’s official website . “I was going away on international duty with Algeria when my agent called to tell me about the interest. I had a strong season with Forest so there were a few clubs showing interest, but I was happy to stay to be honest.
“Palace put in the bid, which was accepted, and that’s when I felt in a little bit of an awkward situation. The bid helped the club and in the end after talking to Palace, I made the move.
“I always wanted to play in the best league in the world and it doesn’t get much better than the Premier League. As an individual I always wanted to go there, and I was just a bit bitter that I couldn’t do that with Forest. I had to go to Palace because of the situation but it was a moment to go and enjoy playing in the top division.”
Guedioura however found game time hard to come by at Palace, leading to the player looking for a loan move away from the club. He eventually completed a temporary move to Watford, but the player himself had only one destination in mind.
“I always kept in contact with people at the club, even after I left,” he added. “I didn’t play too much in my first season at Palace because of managerial changes and I tried everything to come back.
“At the time you could move on emergency loans, and the manager wanted me to go to a different club, but I said if I am going to move it’ll only be back to Forest. Unfortunately it didn’t quite happen at the time, but I was sure that at some point I would come back.”
The midfielder was correct, as he returned to the City Ground six years after he first arrived at the club. He remained with the Reds for another 18 months before leaving for Qatari side Al-Gharfa SC in the summer of 2019.
After spells with Sheffield United and Burton Albion, the 37-year-old is now back in the country that is hosting the World Cup, playing for Al-Duhail SC.
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