Should he stay or should he go now? A regularly debated question splitting fans at the moment is the conundrum of Forest’s Portuguese Playmaker Joao Carvalho linked with a move to either Olimpiakos in Greece or Trabzonspor in Turkey with many a red dog suggesting the rumoured incoming £15m will be better spent elsewhere, whilst some (like me) suggest that he should stay.

Frustratingly, I don’t get to go to as many games as I once used to so by the time I managed to attend my first away day this season at Stoke, Carvalho, who I remembered fondly from the season before, his debut campaign in England in a year otherwise known for turmoil, dross and averageness (like most before it), was one shining light who I thought came out of the campaign looking half decent. Carvalho was also one player on show at Stoke who I was looking forward to seeing play…

So by the time I took my pew at the Britannia Stadium back in September high up and behind the goal the diminutive number ten back from a pre-season injury had already played 262 minutes of football this season as I cast my eye on what I was hoping to see for the first time under the new regime, as a kid doing well.

This however despite a 3-2 win where we went to the top of the football league (for one night only) was not the case, instead of celebrating a footballer neat in possession and tidy on the ball I was more alerted to what was going on off it for Carvalho, often drawn to my first taste of ‘annoyed and angry’ Forest fans thoughts towards what was supposed to be our ‘best’ and priciest footballer with regular murmurs and unpleasantries from the stand… “Lazy Carvalho”… “He does nothing off the ball” … “We may as well be playing with ten”…

The irony was that during the latter stages of the season before Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane, hard disciplinarians that expect work rate and commitment from all of their footballers with defensive structured formation and strategy at the thought of every open play and set piece scenario were quite simply, not a fan of Carvalho.

Forest fans begged the club to get him back in the side regularly relaying “O’Neill’s a dinosaur” with Carvalho only featuring from the start in one of the Irishman’s first fifteen games in charge.

Only a defeat to Sheffield Wednesday when the playoff opportunity had passed did Carvalho feature in O’Neill’s teams playing the last three games of the season all of which Forest won.

Carvalho is an exceptional talent. At 22 years old he lacks consistency as many do his age but with ability and skill he has the tools to unlock any defence in the Championship (proved by the goal he scored at QPR this season or the delightful strike verses Hull in March). On his day he can be the difference in a big game, although on his day he can also make no difference at all.

The conundrum for Forest is do they cut their losses after one and a half years of education in England to get more or less the same return they paid for him or do they put trust in his future development as a Forest player like they do with similar players of the same age ie Matty Cash or Ryan Yates?

I read a tweet that said something like ‘if Carvalho was born in Nottingham would we give him more time?’ A valid point simply down to us expecting too much thanks to a record transfer tag, fancy name and Portuguese accent perhaps?

Bigger problems for me are the lack of empathy towards Carvalho as a footballer. A young Portuguese kid in a foreign country will take time to settle, whilst he’s had the honeymoon period following his move from Benfica (when everybody loved him) he had to learn that perhaps he wasn’t the toast of the town under O’Neill.

A pre-season injury set Carvalho back and ever since he’s not been a regular for his latest Coach Sabri Lamouchi either (in fact Saturday’s 90 minutes in the loss v Sheffield Wednesday was his first full match for Forest since March). Forest fans have now seen that for every one good game his two or three ordinary matches (before being subbed off) outweigh the positives that he can offer when at his best… And with it the frustration increases from the stands who might not all be buying into the player’s price tag as a complete package after overviewing his all-round attributions. I would argue however that a player needs to play regularly to become consistent, something Carvalho has not had since Karanka perhaps?

But now is a crucial time for Carvalho, does he want out himself, or is he willing to dig in and turn things around to become a club great?

Should Lamouchi have the patience I don’t see why the Leiria born midfielder can’t become a permanent plant blooming in the team. If Sabri is willing to coach Carvalho and find a way to fit him in a workable system then it could be to the benefit of the football club, if not however, I see no option other than to get rid or simply let rot in the reserves.

I personally wouldn’t sell him as knowing football clubs and knowing how Forest work (especially around Christmas) there’s not even a guarantee that Sabri Lamouchi will be at the club come the summer, so for Carvalho and the clubs commercial aspect, getting the best out of the player themselves would at least increase his price tag, after all he’s only 22 years old.

For me we have a playmaker and a star of real quality who just needs to be nurtured and adored for the good things he does, he won’t ever be a crunching tackling box to box footballer but Ben Watson will never have tricks like his and Samba Sow won’t score goals or make plays with guile and craft or in the same way. The beauty of football is getting the best out of the players you have to accommodate each other. Which is why playing the likes of Moussi, Cohen and Majewski in the past worked so well… Or even Phillips, Stone and Bohinen of years gone by.

Football players like Carvalho need good players around them to get the best out of themselves, selling him we might see him do even better abroad in playing regular Champions League football and perhaps attracting an even bigger move for himself going forward, should that be the case, would it be yet another one we let go when really we should have kept him for ourselves to all enjoy?

*Article provided by Daniel Peacock (Editor).

*Main image @soccersouls Carvalho last season playing for Forest.