Nottingham Forest defender Loic Bade is set to leave the Premier League club in January, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Zero minutes played

The Frenchman put pen to paper on a season-long loan from Rennes over the summer, but has failed to make any kind of impact since his arrival at the City Ground.

The centre-back hasn’t yet played a single minute of football under Steve Cooper in any competition, and a fresh but rather strange update has now emerged detailing the reason why that is.

The Latest: Bade set for exit

According to French outlet Le Telegramme (via Sport Witness), Rennes are ‘cutting short’ Bade’s loan spell and will be ‘bringing him back’ in the New Year.

The Reds are believed to have had an agreement in place with the Ligue 1 outfit ‘since October’ that the 22-year-old could only play for one club this season, as this would enable him to ‘find a new destination’ in the winter.

Bade featured for Rennes before making the move, meaning that he’s been ‘stopped’ from having a chance in the Midlands so the Ligue 1 outfit can sell him elsewhere in January.

His parent club have already been working for ‘several weeks’ to find him another home.

The Verdict: Bizarre

Whilst Bade has previously been labelled an ‘elite talent’ by talent scout Jacek Kulig, the decision for him to leave Forest is undoubtedly the right one.

The 6 foot 2 colossus won’t be getting any game time between now and the upcoming transfer window so it’s better to get him off the books considering his lack of contribution.

Evangelos Marinakis signing Bade when he seemingly knew he wasn’t able to play is certainly unusual, but at least what seems like a boardroom mistake shouldn't impact matters on the pitch given Cooper hasn't been able to use the player anyway.