He's back! Nottingham Forest's Josh Bowler completes remarkable return to Blackpool as Olympiacos loan is cut short

The wing wizard departed Bloomfield Road on transfer deadline day four months ago, joining Nottingham Forest before immediately being loaned out to Olympiacos.

His move to Greece didn’t work out as intended though, the 23-year-old making just six appearances and three starts.

With FIFA rules dictating players can only play for two clubs in a season, that meant a return to Blackpool was Bowler’s only way of getting game time under his belt.

That’s exactly what has happened, the Forest man completing a loan deal until the end of the season – although he won’t be able to play against his parent club in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

“We’re clearly very happy to have Josh with us again and I’m sure our fans are delighted to see him back as well,” head coach Michael Appleton said.

“He’s got incredible ability, he can carry the ball, get us up the pitch and, most importantly, he’s a match-winner.

“You’ve only got to look at the contribution he made at the start of this season to see the impact he can have. In tight games, he can win them with a piece of magic.”

The former Everton man, who arrived at Bloomfield Road on a free transfer in 2021, scored 10 times in 52 appearances during his time on the Fylde coast.

His impressive displays earned the winger a move to the City Ground during the final hours of the summer transfer window before being immediately shipped out to a club with the same owner, Evangelos Marinakis.

The move to Olympiacos initially got off to a fairly promising start as he featured in the Europa League under former Huddersfield Town boss Carlos Corberan.

But Corberan was sacked after taking charge of just 11 games, leaving Bowler in limbo after being frozen out by new boss Michel Gonzalez, who refused to even include the wide man in his match-day squads.

The Seasiders will now be hoping Bowler will be able to provide the quality needed in the final third to fire them up the league table in the coming weeks and months.