Nottingham Forest did some strong work in the transfer market during the summer window and the most impressive element was how many players the club managed to move on.
Forest signed 11 new players with two of them – David Carmo and Marko Stamenic – joining Olympiacos on loan for the 2024/25 campaign.
However, over 20 players were either sold, released or returned to their parent club following unsuccessful loan periods at the City Ground.
One of those players was Cheikhou Kouyate and although he’s 34-years-old, it’s perhaps somewhat surprising that he’s not found a club to play for just yet.
Now, his sabbatical from club football could be over and a top Championship outfit is set to sign him on a short-term contract.
Leeds set to sign Cheikhou Kouyate
On the face of things, this is perhaps a bit of a surprising one from a Leeds perspective given the wealth of quality they have at the Championship level.
Steve Cooper praised Kouyate for his efforts back in April 2023 as Forest closed in on Premier League survival and he played a lot of football under the former boss.
A former Forest midfielder, Carlton Palmer, doesn’t think this is a sound move made by Leeds though and has questioned the Whites over this particular deal.
He told Football League World: “Given Leeds United’s injury woes, especially in the midfield department, Daniel Farke is looking at players who are out of contract, and one of those players is Cheikhou Kouyate, who was released by Nottingham Forest in the summer.
“He’s still without a club, and it worries me when a player has been released from a football club in the summer and has not been picked up, it is a problem.”
“I don’t think Kouyate is going to come in at 34 years old and make a big impression at Leeds with what they are planning to do for this season.
“As I said, with players who have been released by a football club in the summer and haven’t been snapped up at this period of time, there is a reason for that.”
Kouyate could star with Leeds
Okay, so Palmer makes some valid points about a lack of game time and not being picked up by someone else, but there could be a number of factors for that.
For starters, Kouyate suffered a family tragedy earlier this year and a chance to properly take some time off might have come into his thinking when Forest released him.
Also, with his record of playing in the Premier League, perhaps many EFL clubs felt that Kouyate was unobtainable and decided against offering him anything given that he is now 34.
But, Leeds are getting a solid professional who has played all of his career in England in the Premier League and won a Crystal Palace Player of the Year award in 2021/22.
It’s hard to imagine that Kouyate is going to take Elland Road by storm but he should prove to be a very useful addition to the squad in the middle of the park.
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