Nottingham Forest didn't strike gold with £2.5m transfer - Bolton Wanderers had no seller's remorse | OneFootball

Bolton brilliance put Clough on the map - but it didn’t follow him to Forest

By the winter of 2017, Zach Clough had become Bolton Wanderers’ crown jewel.

A product of the club’s academy, he had been on the books since the age of eight, and at 21 was their leading forward.

His debut as a teenager in 2015 was the stuff of local folklore: a winning goal against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup, followed by an immediate run of form that briefly made him the brightest young prospect outside the Premier League.

Clough’s early years in Lancashire were marked by both promise and setbacks. He was twice hampered by shoulder dislocations but nevertheless compiled an impressive record: 23 goals in 77 appearances, including a player of the month award in League One during the 2016–17 season.

Financially stricken Bolton were in little position to turn down a significant offer.

Nottingham Forest arrived with £2.5 million, and the deal was swiftly concluded.

The concern among supporters was obvious: how would a team fighting to return to the Championship cope with the loss of their talisman? The answer was - surprisingly well.

Wanderers secured automatic promotion that May, and with it the sense that selling Clough had been a blow cushioned by the collective strength of Phil Parkinson’s side.

Forest had their new Clough, and Bolton did not appear to miss him.

Zach Clough became Nottingham Forest flop after stellar career start with Bolton Wanderers

If the surname carried weight at the City Ground, it proved a burden rather than a blessing. Brian and Nigel remain etched into Nottingham Forest folklore, but Zach’s story would follow a different path.

Initially, there were flickers of promise. Clough scored four times in his opening months, including against Brighton and in a heated derby with Derby County.

Supporters hoped this was a player who could add guile and goals in a squad threatened by the Championship trapdoor. Early signs suggested Forest had unearthed a shrewd attacking option.

Yet the momentum faded almost as quickly as it appeared. The following season, Clough was virtually anonymous.

Loan moves back to Bolton and later to Rochdale followed, but neither spell rekindled his earlier form.

When he did return to Forest, the route back into the first team was blocked by managerial changes, a revolving door of attacking recruits and, crucially, the erosion of his own confidence. Injuries played their part too, stripping him of sharpness at key moments.

By 2021, the numbers told their own story: 31 appearances in four years, his last outing coming in January 2018.

When his contract was finally cancelled by mutual consent, it closed the book on a transfer that had never looked like value for money.

How a return to Bolton and a move abroad salvaged Zach Clough’s career

Clough’s temporary return to Bolton in 2018, on loan from Forest, was symbolic.

He remained a popular figure among Wanderers’ support, and although his impact was limited - one goal, albeit a crucial winner against Sunderland - it reaffirmed where he had played his best football.

It also highlighted the gulf between the player he had been at Bolton and the one who struggled for relevance elsewhere.

Subsequent moves within the EFL, at Wigan and Carlisle, failed to reignite his career. By his mid-twenties, Clough had drifted from the player once courted by top-flight clubs - his career a cautionary tale of how quickly momentum can be lost.

The turning point came in February 2022, when he made the bold switch to Adelaide United in Australia’s A-League. The lifestyle and less congested fixture list suited him.

Injury-free for the first sustained spell in years, he found both rhythm and enjoyment again, becoming a firm favourite in South Australia.

Now 30, Clough has embarked on another chapter, this time in Malaysia with Selangor. His career has now stretched from a dream debut at Bolton to an itinerant journey across continents.

At Bolton, he will always be remembered as the academy graduate who burst onto the scene and helped fund the club’s survival with his sale.