Nottingham Forest defender Nicholas Ioannou has “a good chance” of going out on loan this month.
The Cyprus international is believed to be close to joining Greek side Aris Thessaloniki until the end of the season, as the Reds look to cut numbers during the transfer window.
Ioannou only made the move to the City Ground from APOEL in September, when he put pen to paper on a four-year contract, and has featured just five times in the Garibaldi.
His last appearance came in the 1-1 draw at Luton Town back in October, when he was sent off in the first half at Kenilworth Road.
Since then, Yuri Ribeiro has gone on to cement his place as first-choice at left-back, while Forest also have Gaetan Bong on the books.
“It’s never for me to speak about individual clubs, but what I can say is we have spoken to Ioannou about the possibility of going out - going out on loan and playing games,” boss Chris Hughton said.
“That is something we are actively trying to do, but it’s not my responsibility to name clubs.
“It’s fair to say there is a good chance he’ll be going out.”
Overseeing outgoings is a priority for the manager in January as he tries to trim a bloated squad, but he also hopes to bring in some of his own players.
Anthony Knockaert was the only one of 14 summer signings to arrive since Hughton replaced Sabri Lamouchi at the helm, with this window his first real chance to put his mark on the squad.
“That will be the balance we have to get to,” Hughton said of potential incomings and outgoings.
“What I would like is, by the time we get to the end of this window, we have the balance in the squad that I’m happy with.
“In most instances that is generally not the case - you’re either wishing you could have brought another one in or there’s one or two you’ve actively tried to move out and it’s not been possible.
“But whatever we finish with, squad wise, at the end of the window, at least as a manager what you have the comfort of knowing is, that’s it - this is the group I have to work with and what we have to do is try to get as many good results with this group as we can.”
