Joe Jones: Notts County are in good stead to make most of loan market

Jorge Grant's long-term future has now been decided, and the 22-year-old has decided to stay put at Nottingham Forest. There goes the slender hope we had of potentially signing our undisputed loan star last season.

In hindsight, it was a no-brainer for Forest to offer him a contract and, with the club in the Championship and under new ownership, Grant cannot be faulted for staying put - not to mention it's the club where he came through the ranks, so he'll of course be wanting to win himself a first-team place there.

But there's no point crying over spilt milk. Kevin Nolan will surely have been aware that the likelihood of Grant being released by Forest, and indeed of Grant opting to leave them once a new contract offer was on the table, was slender.

There is no doubt that Nolan will be scouting the loan market this off season with an eye on bringing more Premier League or Championship youngsters to Meadow Lane. Indeed, I feel the loan market is where Notts can bring in the quality needed to give the team an extra edge in League Two, an incredibly competitive and even competition where anyone can beat anyone else.

Grant's success in the black and white stripes turned out to be a success for all three parties involved - Notts stayed up thanks to Grant's play and goals, the player himself developed massively in a short space of time and ended up bagging himself a new deal at his parent club, and Forest now have an asset which will benefit their own squad.

Given how Notts will likely have gone up highly in Forest's estimations with regards to developing their players, it wouldn't be unrealistic to suggest Nolan is likely to be given first dibs for any other Reds youngsters who need first-team action.

And this isn't just between Forest and Notts. The other loanees who joined in the second half of the season also left Meadow Lane wiser and more experienced than when they came in, with Arsenal's Marc Bola singing County's praises following his stint in Nottingham.

And of course who can forget the impact made by two other young loanees a few seasons back - Callum McGregor and Jack Grealish? The former is now a treble winner at Celtic, the latter has since carved out a first-team place at Aston Villa.

Put simply, as of summer 2017 Notts have a stellar reputation when it comes to nurturing young loanees, and when you add Nolan's clout and his little book of contacts to the concoction, it means we may well see plenty more talented young loanees wearing the black and white stripes in months, maybe even years, to come.

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