Notts County must avoid repeat of disastrous 2019 Nottingham Forest loan deal | OneFootball

The Magpies loaned Virgil Gomis in from their city rivals back in 2019, and the results were disastrous.

Notts County got their January transfer business underway with the signing of Hull City forward Will Jarvis for an undisclosed fee.

While it is unclear exactly where the 22-year-old will fit into Stuart Maynard’s side, the Magpies likely need to bring another striker to the club in January, with David McGoldrick and Alassana Jatta currently their only options to play through the middle of their attack.

Given the quality that the duo bring, you would imagine a loan move for a striker would be more likely, as chances are, Notts won’t be able to convince a big-name frontman to come and have to fight for his place in the side.

If Notts do eventually opt for a loan move, they’ll be keen to avoid a repeat of the deal that saw them take young striker Virgil Gomis from city rivals Nottingham Forest for six months back in 2019.

Gomis made the switch to Meadow Lane in January 2019, with Notts locked in the middle of a fierce relegation scrap in League Two. However, the signing of the youngster didn’t have the desired effect, and he failed to score for the club as Notts were relegated into non-league for the first time in their 157-year history.

The signing of Gomis simply didn’t work

When Gomis moved to Notts in January 2020, he came in as part of a busy window for the Magpies that also saw the likes of Michael Doyle and Jim O’Brien move to Meadow Lane as Neal Ardley desperately tried to preserve Notts’ Football League status.

Gomis had impressed for Forest’s Under 23s side that season, as well as scoring once from five appearances during a month spent on loan at Braintree Town in the National League.

Gomis was intended to bring pace and a goal threat to Notts’ attack, but the signing simply didn’t work out.

The young Frenchman looked extremely poor at Football League level and contributed little to the Magpies’ survival fight.

Back-to-back victories over high-flyers Forest Green Rovers and Mansfield Town at the start of February gave Ardley’s side hope of avoiding the drop, and a 2-1 home win over Grimsby Town took their battle to the season’s final day.

Despite going ahead midway through the second half, Notts eventually succumbed to a 3-1 defeat at Swindon Town, consigning them to non-league for the first time ever.

Gomis was an unused sub that day at the County Ground, and ended his time at Meadow Lane having made just 10 appearances in Notts colours, and failing to notch a single goal or assist.

Gomis now plays in the French lower leagues

After departing Meadow Lane at the end of the 2018/19 season, Gomis was again loaned to League Two the following campaign, where he scored twice from 14 appearances in all competitions for Macclesfield Town, who had stayed up in place of the Magpies the year before.

A brief loan spell of just six appearances at Grimsby Town followed in 2020/21, before being released by Forest at the end of that campaign.

Since then, the Frenchman’s career has tailed off badly. He returned to his homeland, making seven appearances for Paris FC’s reserve team, scoring once. He then joined French lower league side Pouzauges Bocages FC in 2023.

While it is obviously unfair to place too much blame on Gomis for Notts’ relegation, his signing was indicative of a disastrous season that ultimately cost the Magpies their title of the World’s Oldest Football League Club.

He was brought in as one of several players tasked with providing a shot in the arm of Neal Ardley’s side and, unfortunately, he failed miserably.