Barnfred 55
Player Valuation: £80m
I really don't know what to make of this one. It's so hard to decide what is better for the development of young players as everyone is different. The wrong loan moves have proved disastrous for the likes of Galloway and Garbutt. But likewise, you only need to look at quality Chelsea players like Loftus Cheek, Chalobah and Solanke to show that staying with the parent club doesn't always work out either.He'll be playing regular football (hopefully ) and against a better standard than most of the teams we'll play in europa league. It's a good move even though I'd love to see him play for us
The problem I have with loans today is we don't have the youth loan scheme anymore. So if it isn't working out for Dowell at Forest there isn't a great deal that we can do about it until the loan finishes. In his favour, I do like Warburton as a manager and he does have history of giving youth a chance, and for playing football that could accommodate a player such as Dowell, so fingers crossed this loan works out well for him.
Personally I'd have liked us to have kept him for the first half of the season. There are a potential 10 games to play in EL during that time and I think European football would suit his game. With the size of our squad he should certainly get regular playing time with superior players than he'll be with at Forest, whilst training with the first team on a daily basis. A decision could then have been made about a half season loan in January.
But what do I know?