Grimsby Town Football Club are pleased to announce the loan signing of Nottingham Forest centre forward, Virgil Gomis on loan until the end of the season.
The 21-year-old striker joins Danny Preston from Forest, who joined the club on loan earlier in the summer transfer window.
Gomis has been part of the Nottingham Forest Academy system since the age of 16 and enjoyed his first taste of competitive football in 2018, when he joined Braintree Town in November, before joining local rivals Notts County in January 2019 for the remainder of the season.
In August 2019, Gomis joined Macclesfield Town on loan, making 14 appearances in all competitions before being recalled by Forest in January 2020.
We caught up with manager, Ian Holloway this morning who spoke to us about his latest acquisition.
“Hopefully he will bring what Danny has told me he is all about”, said Holloway.
“I’ve had a look at him a bit now and if you look at his record when he has been out on loan, it’s not as good as the 23’s, but both Gary Brazil and Danny Preston believe that he will respond very well to me. Hopefully, with the way I want to play I need lots of attackers to choose from and with the schedule of games that we’ve got because of the COVID situation, it’s absolutely paramount that I’ve got enough people to be fresh on a Saturday and then on the Tuesday and then again on the Saturday.
“With the ailments that I’ve seen in some of my players so far, that is not going to change, so if I can use Hanson sparingly and importantly then that’ll be huge, it will take the pressure off of me literally needing him, because when we haven’t had him we haven’t been great, so I want to be able to use him in the right way rather than be desperate to get him in the team and put him in danger again.
Despite not featuring for Nottingham Forest’s first team, Gomis has had plenty of experience in men’s football over the last couple of seasons, something which Holloway believes will be a huge help. “It will definitely help him without a shadow of doubt having that league experience”, said Holloway.
“But he is going to have to get used to me, isn’t he? Life is about bedding in with the person you are with and not with those who you were with before. Every time you go out it’s a different situation, I now know I am finalising how I want to play with this group, so we’re going to have a right good go at having enough in those wide areas. It’s going to be difficult because I have got seven loanees now and I am only allowed to use five in a matchday squad, so I am going to have to leave two of them out but I don’t want to see one sign of a sulk out of any of them, in this scenario I can plan teams that are going to be ready and raring to go!”.
Gomis will now be eligible for The Mariners tomorrow, as we make the journey down to London to take on Leyton Orient for a 5:30pm kick-off. You can purchase your match pass for the fixture by clicking HERE.
Welcome to Blundell Park, Virgil!
