Lodi loan rumours are played down after Brazil trip
NOTTINGHAM Forest loanee Renan Lodi seems set to stay at the City Ground this season as there is reportedly ‘no ongoing negotiation’ with Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense.
In recent days, the 16-cap Brazil international has been training with the Curitiba-based club he first joined as a teenager and is “keeping his shape” after not being named in the national team’s squad for the World Cup.
Lodi has made eight appearances for the Reds since arriving from parent side Atletico Madrid in late August.
A first goal for the club came against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup third round victory and the left-back also started the final match before the Premier League paused against Crystal Palace, another win.
Despite playing reasonably regularly, photos of the player back in Brazil had contributed to rumours about an early end to the loan agreement.
GOAL report, translated by Sport Witness, that despite a return to their homeland ‘being the wish of the athlete’s family’, there is ‘no ongoing negotiation between the parties’.
The player’s pregnant wife has recently claimed that they were ‘ready’ to raise their child back in Brazil, with Lodi also adding to the speculation by describing Athletico as his “home”.
FORMER Nottingham Forest loanee James Garner has been ruled out for two months with a back injury.
Since arriving on Merseyside from Manchester United on the summer transfer deadline day, instead of returning to the East Midlands with the Reds, the midfielder has made seven appearances.
Garner, 21, did, though, miss the final match before the Premier League paused, which was only four days after starting for the first time in the Carabao Cup third round, when he was substituted seven minutes into the second half.
Everton travelled to Australia ahead of participating in the Sydney Super Cup, where they faced Celtic and Western Sydney Wanderers earlier this week in friendlies. Garner, though, did not travel with the squad.
Everton boss Frank Lampard has confirmed that the England under-21 international is set for an extended absence, telling evertontv that “it’s a disappointing injury,” which won’t see the player return until “the back end of January or early February”.
That timeline suggests the player should be available again ahead of a potential return to the City Ground in early March after potentially missing as many as half a dozen matches.