Joe Lolley 'told he is free to leave Nottingham Forest'

The 29-year-old has often been a key figure for the Reds in the Championship over recent years, but was used sparingly by Steve Cooper during the 2021-22 campaign.

Cooper oversaw his side end their 23-year wait for a return to the Premier League after beating Huddersfield Town in the playoff final back in May, and the Forest boss has been busy revamping his squad ahead of the season opener at Newcastle United on August 6.

The likes of Neco Williams, Taiwo Awoniyi, Omar Richards, Dean Henderson and Moussa Niakhate have all arrived at the City Ground, whilst Lewis Grabban and Brice Samba are amongst those to have departed.

Lolley could be the next to be shown the exit door according to the Daily Mail, who are reporting that the winger has been informed that he is no longer part of Cooper's plans for the upcoming campaign.

The report suggests that Lolley has been demoted to training with the Under-23s in the East Midlands, despite starting the pre-season defeat to Coventry City on July 8.

Since joining the club from Huddersfield back in January 2018, Lolley has gone on to make 170 appearances for Forest across all competitions, scoring 26 goals.

However, none of those goals arrived last season, with Lolley being restricted to just 27 Championship appearances, of which only 10 were starts.