The Imps have been linked with a swoop for Blackpool’s Jordan Gabriel, as per Alan Nixon in whatever awful red top he writes for these days.
This has been sent to me, I’m not one to read the red tops, especially not the Scum, but it’s a viable transfer rumour, so I thought I’d get it out for you to digest. Gabriel is currently on the books at Bloomfield Road, where he has nine League One starts for Neil Critchley’s side and seven appearances from the bench.
He began his career as a youth with Arsenal and Southend, joining Forest’s academy in 2015. He turned pro at The City Ground in 2016, making his debut against Arsenal in the League Cup. After a trial at Port Vale, he moved to Scunthorpe on loan, playing nine times in League Two.
Following his Championship debut for Forest, he moved to Blackpool on loan in the 2020/21 season and was part of their squad that eventually pipped us to a place in the Championship. He only appeared for ten minutes against us during the thrilling 2-2 draw that reignited our play-off ambitions, but he was an unused sub in the final.
Following the Tangerines’ promotion, he made a permanent switch, penning a four-year deal. He played 41 times across their two-year stay in the Championship, suffering a knee injury against Millwall in April 2023, which kept him out until December of this season. He had already missed four months of the season after suffering a similar injury the previous October.
Gabriel is a right back and right wing back with two goals this season, one of which came against former club Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup.
Is it a viable rumour? The short report from Nixon suggests that we want the 25-year-old ‘even if we stay in League One this season’ and given his previous Championship pedigree, that would be a statement. However, he still has a year remaining on his contract, which would mean a fee.
I’m on the fence as to the validity of the speculation.