Highly-rated Nottingham Forest striker Dale Taylor has agreed a new contract with the club after making his international debut last season.
Nottinghamshire Live understands Taylor has agreed a three-year deal as the Reds look to continue his progress having signed his first professional deal in December 2020. The 18-year-old is yet to make his senior debut for the club, but he does have one cap for Northern Ireland having come off the bench against Lithuania last November.
Taylor travelled with the first-team squad to Fulham last season as Forest won 1-0. He was also a key player in Forest's run to the FA Youth Cup final and featured for the Under-23s in Premier League 2. In addition to that, Taylor played for Andy Reid's side in a behind closed doors game against Northampton Town earlier today with the League Two side winning 2-1.
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Speaking after the Fulham game, manager Steve Cooper said: “It was good experience for him. Dale is still very much in the early stages of his development as a full-time player. There’s always a possibility for young players. We’ll never have any hesitation in including them, we quite like it really.
“A lot of our staff have been academy staff at various clubs, so we know how important youth development is to a club - and it’s a proud one here, as well. When chances arise we’ll be throwing them in, that’s for sure.”
Forest director of professional development Gary Brazil is also a big fan of Taylor. He tweeted his praise for the player after he scored a brilliant goal for the Under-18s against Leeds in March.
"Big NFFC future ahead for Dale," Brazil tweeted. "Strong, quick, intelligent and has an eye for goal.
"Lots of hard work ahead for our outstanding NFFC Academy PDP (professional development phase) staff to deliver, but he has the drive and character to go a long way in the game."
Taylor joined Forest in the summer of 2020 from Linfield. After impressing for the club's under-18s, he was handed his first-team debut for the Danske Bank Premiership side, at the age of just 15, when he came off the bench in a 5-1 win over local rivals East Belfast.
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