At Wembley on Sunday Nottingham Forest’s starting XI for the Championship playoff final against Huddersfield will almost certainly include four players they do not own. Playing the loan system is about short-term gain, something Forest have become adept at, but if they go up they will require a precise plan to ensure it was not all for nothing.
In the Championship, where money to buy players is scarcer than it once was, the loan market is a great place to find undervalued talent of greater quality than a team can afford on a permanent basis. There is little point in signing players on loan who are not good enough to start, something appreciated at Forest. As much research is put into those arriving for a season or six months as into permanent signings.
