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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Tom Leach

The stats which show how effective Joao Carvalho was in his debut season at Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest's Joao Carvlaho is reportedly a favourite of Olympiacos, according to reports in Greece.

The 22-year-old who became the club's all-time record signing last summer had a mixed season in Garibaldi.

While boasting his fair share of memorable moments in his debut City Ground season, the former Benfica man featured less under Martin O'Neill as he was dropped to the bench for ten successive games through January and February.

And even his magical turn and finish against Hull City, that at the time looked so crucial in the race for promotion, was followed by a poor display against Aston Villa the following Tuesday that saw him dropped again.

Here are how Carvalho's stats stack up compared to his fellow young (under-23) Championship rivals...

Assists

The 22-year-old missed a huge chunk of last season after sliding down the pecking order under Martin O'Neill, but during that time only Joe Lolley surpassed him for number of assists.

Jack Colback and Joao Carvalho celebrate for Forest. (Ritchie Sumpter @ JMS Photography)

His eight in the league alone makes him the third most creative young player in the Championship, beaten only by Norwich City's Emiliano Buendia (12) and Derby County's Jayden Bogle (9).

Away from home Carvalho was at his very best, contributing to five of Forest's goals on road, more than any other young player in the division.

On the ball

Jarrod Bowen has been in emphatic form for Hull City over the past two seasons and has even been attracting Premier League attention if reports are to be believed, notably from Forest's East Midlands rivals Leicester City.

Cesc Fabregas of Chelsea battles for possession with Joao Carvalho of Nottingham Forest (Getty Images)

Bowen, who played every game for the Tigers last season, has received praise for his fearlessness in the final third.

According to WhoScored, the 22 year-old has made 123 total dribbles, more than any other young player, but only three more than Carvalho (120) in eight less appearances.

Carvalho beat off Jack Grealish, Yannick Bolasie, Matt Phillips, Bradley Dack and plenty of other having charged on an average of 3.2 attacking dribbles per game, the tenth highest in the division.

Winning partnership

Joao Carvalho and Lewis Grabban did not start together all that frequently in Garibaldi last season.

Joao Carvalho admires Lewis Grabban after his penalty (Dan Westwell)

Yet, as a pair, they spent the majority of the season near the top of one key Championship statistic as one of the division's most productive assist and goal scorer double-acts.

Carvalho played the killer pass to slide Grabban in on goal on four occasions, just two shy of the league's best.

Neal Maupay and Said Benrahma topped the table with pair combining to find the net six times.

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