Nottingham Forest have been dealt a potential blow to their chances of keeping James Garner at the City Ground for the entirety of the current Championship campaign.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by The Sun on Sunday (via Football League World), who revealed that Manchester United insisted upon a break clause in the 20-year-old's season-long loan deal with Forest, meaning the central midfielder could be recalled by the Premier League club in the January transfer window should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be unhappy with his progress in the second tier.

Cooper would be gutted

Considering the sheer amount of talent Garner quite clearly possesses, should Manchester United indeed take up their option to recall the England U21 international in January, it would undoubtedly leave Steve Cooper gutted.

Indeed, despite Forest's disappointing campaign so far this season, the £3.6m-rated man has nevertheless impressed over his five Championship appearances for the Garibaldi, creating one big chance for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.2 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 1.6 clearances and winning three duels per game.

These returns have seen the player United midfielder Fred dubbed an "incredible" talent earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.94, ranking him as the Reds' second-best performer in the league.

As such, should Cooper fail to oversee an upturn in results at the City Ground, or United simply believe that Garner's development would be served better by playing for another Championship side in the second half of the season, the possibility of Forest losing the services of the midfielder in January could be a very real one, something that would undoubtedly come as a major blow to the 41-year-old manager's chances of getting his side out of their current predicament in the Championship relegation zone.

In other news: Steve Cooper drops claim which is sure to come as music to the ears of Forest fans