Nottingham Forest have added some excellent loan talents to their squad this season, with Philip Zinckernagel setting the tone as the first arrival of the bunch during the summer.

The 27-year-old arrived on loan from Watford early in August having only made nine starts for his parent club last season, with the predominance of his playing time being out of position.

Having registered 19 goals and 18 assists in 31 appearances for Bodø/Glimt before heading to Watford, the Danish forward felt he was being underused as a central midfielder for the Hornets.

“At Watford, I played more recently as a central midfielder and I wanted to get back to playing a more offensive role,” Zinckernagel stated upon moving to Nottingham Forest. “I wanted to be a winger or a No 10. I have missed having that attacking threat.”

“I am best on the right or the left wing, but I also like to play just behind the striker. When you play with two central midfielders, it does not matter if I play in the middle on the right or the left, as long as I am in that three, I can be effective.”

Fans will remember Zinckernagel’s first cup game for Forest when the Dane registered two beautifully crafted assists for Joao Carvalho against Bradford whilst playing in one of his preferred positions – on the wing.

Since then, the 27-year-old has continued to play in his preferred positions on the wing or behind the striker. More recently, the Dane played behind Brennan Johnson and Keinan Davis in the 4-1 win against Leicester. Zinckernagel opened the scoring for Forest and assisted Djed Spence for the fourth goal to round off a successful day for the red side of the East Midlands.

Though averaging 66 minutes per game for Forest this season, Zinckernagel now has five goals and eight assists in 32 appearances across all competitions, making a clear impact.

“I’m sure if you asked him, he’d have preferred to start the last two games,” said Forest manager Steve Cooper before Barnsley at home.

“But what he has shown, with the way he’s come on and the difference he’s made, is how professional he is, how focused he is and how important he is to us.”

Zinckernagel can either start or come off the bench and make his mark on a game. For instance, it only took the Dane four minutes to score against Reading when starting the match. The forward received the ball on the inside-left, dropped his shoulder twice, forced his way into the box and drove the ball low into the bottom right corner.

However, after coming on in the 68th minute against Derby, the loanee set up an all-important goal that won all three points for Forest. After being released down the left by Brennan Johnson, Zinckernagel burst into the box before cutely laying the ball off to Johnson on the penalty spot, who calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net for a massive win.

As previously mentioned, Zinckernagel only averages around an hour per game for Forest in the Championship this season. This hasn’t stopped the Dane from being heavily involved in goal contributions, though.

Only Lewis Grabban (12) and Brennan Johnson (9) have more goals in the league than Philip Zinckernagel (4) so far. As well as being on the scoresheet more than most Forest players, the Dane also helps others to add to their goal tally too. Only Brennan Johnson (6) has more assists than Zinckernagel (5) this season, displaying the 27-year-old’s impact on the club so far.

The Dane is also demonstrating his freedom to get forward this season with the joint most shots on goal per game in the Nottingham Forest squad so far in the Championship this season (1.9). Only Grabban (0.7) and Johnson (0.7) have registered more shots on target per game than Zinckernagel (0.6).

In terms of creativity, Brennan Johnson (11) is the only Forest player that has created more ‘big chances’ for Forest this season than Zinckernagel (4). That creativity comes from Zinckernagel being able to get into dangerous areas, highlighted by Djed Spence being the only player to have completed more dribbles (1.5) than Zinckernagel (1.4) in the Forest team. The forward also boasts a 77% pass accuracy per game and completes 0.7 key passes per game.

With Zinckernagel heavily involved with the statistical side of the Nottingham Forest team this season, a poll was put out on social media to ask if Forest fans would take the Dane on a permanent basis.

A total of 1,012 fans voted, with a landslide 88% voting yes whilst 12% voted no. Zinckernagel’s price and consistency are key factors in some fans’ responses.

Poll time #NFFC fans..

If the price was right, would you be happy to have Philip Zinckernagel on a permanent basis?

— Callum Castel-Nuovo (@callumcasteln) February 20, 2022

“Hard call. On his day fantastic, but often inconsistent,” says one fan.

“He frustrates me. He has a lot of ability but can seem to float and not produce. But then look at how good he was against Leicester. For the right price, I’d have him, but certainly not a high one,” stated another fan.

Averaging an hour per game can highlight inconsistencies, but with the third highest goal contributions in the Nottingham Forest team and a strong impact with limited minutes, it would be difficult to say that Zinckernagel isn’t doing the job he was recruited to do, making for an excellent Championship player.

*Article provided by Callum Castel (Nottingham Forest Correspondent).

*Main image @NFFC Philip Zinckernagel has largely impressed Reds fans this season.