LYLE TAYLOR, the Montserrat captain, has finally put pen to paper with Nottingham Forest following months of speculation that he would join the ambitious Championship club.

The 30-year-old hotshot, a free agent after leaving Charlton Athletic, signed a three-year deal on August 15 to become Forest’s third signing of the summer. He had helped fire Charlton to promotion from League One, but recently turned from hero to villain for the south London side.

After controversially refusing to sign a contract extension with Charlton to tackle their relegation battle, when the season resumed following the enforced break because of the coronavirus outbreak, Taylor set himself a goal of playing top tier football for the first time in his checkered career.

Linked

The journeyman, who has only been kicking around lower leagues throughout his career, was linked with the seemingly unlikely move to Turkish heavyweights Galatasaray as well as the Glasgow giants of Celtic and Rangers. Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion, who both recently secured promotion to the English Premier League (EPL), had been tentatively linked with a move for the frontman.

Having bagged 11 Championship goals before March’s break because of the coronavirus pandemic, Taylor was constantly courted by Forest but he delayed signing a deal as he pinned his dreams on them playing in the EPL next season.

After Forest missed out on reaching the Championship play-offs on the final day of the stop-start season, Taylor’s representatives swiftly turned their attentions to Scotland instead. But Celtic fans took to social media in their droves to voice how unhappy they would be to have the London-born forward in their squad and Rangers replenished their strikeforce with a set of unexpected signings.

Desperate

With his £4m move to Championship high-fliers Brentford collapsing in January, Taylor was desperate for a shot at competing in the top flight. Yet he has settled for staying in the Championship for at least another season, this time with Forest whose short-term goal is to return to the top tier.

Taylor’s parting shot for Charlton and their supporters, having upset both for not extending his contract to play in the final run of games when the Championship resumed in June that resulted in relegation last month, was to the point: “I’m gutted at the way it’s finishing [Charlton’s relegation to League One], but I don’t expect people to care. I know that once the damage is done it’s irreparable and I don’t really expect any sympathy.”