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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Matt Davies

Britt Assombalonga and Nottingham Forest: Would Middlesbrough's big earner be a smart signing?

Nottingham Forest are reportedly one of a clutch of teams monitoring their former striker Britt Assombalonga.

Last month, The Athletic said the Reds were keeping tabs on the 28-year-old along with a number of Championship rivals, while The Mirror say clubs in Turkey are keen.

He scored 45 goals in 106 league starts but it was a far from perfect time on Teesside.

Assombalonga is now a free agent after being released by Middlesbrough, the team who paid Forest £15m to sign him in 2017.

He now faces an uncertain future though given the likely financial aspects of any deal to kick-start his career.

With that in mind, we spoke to Dominic Shaw of Teesside Live to assess the former Peterborough striker's future and whether he would be a good signing for the Reds this summer.

Was it a surprise to see him released by Neil Warnock?

No, not at all.

The writing has been on the wall for Assombalonga for a while, certainly for the bulk of this season.

It's no secret Assombalonga was Boro's highest paid player - by some way - so if there was any chance of him staying beyond this summer he'd have needed to take a significant wage cut.

But to be honest, he didn't do much on the pitch this season to merit an extension.

How will his time at Boro be remembered?

It's a difficult one, because there's no getting away from the fact that, on the whole, Assombalonga was a disappointment at Boro.

But there is mitigation. In his four years at the club, he played under four managers - and very different ones at that.

Garry Monk, the boss who signed him, only lasted half a season, and was replaced by Tony Pulis, which, tactically, is quite the gear change.

Pulis spent most of his time talking about the chances Assombalonga had missed but, ironically enough, it was under the Welshman that the striker had his best season, in terms of goals.

Both Jonathan Woodgate and Neil Warnock tried their best to get a tune out of Boro's record signing. Woodgate told anyone that would listen that Assombalonga was "his nine" and he'd be the main man up-front. But Ashley Fletcher emerged as Boro's best striker that season.

And at the start of the most recent campaign, Warnock handed Assombalonga the captain's armband. Warnock is known for his man management and this was a clear attempt to nurse that bit more out of the striker. But in truth it didn't really work. We saw flashes this season but his Boro career petered out.

Where did he tend to play for Boro tactically?

This is where there's an argument in support of Assombalonga. Did Boro ever set-up to play to Assombalonga's strengths? Though in truth, at times it was hard to see what those strengths are.

He's certainly not a lone back to goal frontman, which is how he was used under Pulis.

Boro have had a problem scoring goals for years. They've missed chances - Assombalonga has been a guilty party - but they've also fallen short when it comes to creativity.

Do you think he's still a top Championship striker?

When Boro signed him, there was Premier League interest.

I think that ship has sailed now. But despite what was largely a frustrating time at Boro, he still averaged just shy of a goal every three games, and 45 goals in 106 league starts is a decent enough return, especially when you consider the above and the fact that tactically Boro and Britt rarely looked a good fit.

I would imagine he'll have to take quite a big wage cut if he wants to stay in the Championship.

He's been linked with Rangers, but my understanding is the Scottish champions have no interest in Assombalonga.

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