Former Gunner Marcus McGuane is finally a Nottingham Forest player, completing his transfer from FC Barcelona a few weeks after SC Telstar announced the move.

Marcus McGuane featuring for Telstar (Photo by Michel van Bergen)
Marcus McGuane featuring for Telstar (Photo by Michel van Bergen)

The situation is about as complicated as it sounds in that opening paragraph. Marcus McGuane previously played for the Arsenal academy, but he joined Barcelona in a permanent transfer in January 2018.

After a season-and-a-half with Barcelona B, as well as making a substitute appearance for the first-team, McGuane went on loan to SC Telstar. Initially, the loan was for the full season.

Then, at the start of February, Telstar announced McGuane was terminating his loan with them and leaving Barcelona to join Nottingham Forest. However, Forest themselves didn’t confirm the transfer, leaving us hanging for a few weeks as they got clearance.

25 days later, Nottingham Forest announced the transfer on Twitter. They write that he’s signing a deal until 2022, and will initially join up with their u23 side.

It’s honestly all a bit of a roundabout way for McGuane to reach regular senior football. No doubt he has a better chance of doing so with Nottingham Forest, but there can’t be many 21-year-olds who end up in the Championship via Barcelona and SC Telstar.

Given Forest’s position in the table (fourth), it’s very possible they could achieve promotion this season. If they do, McGuane may well get the chance to taste Premier League action before long.