Tyrese Fornah

Tyrese Fornah

Personal information
Full name	Tyrese Momodu Fornah
Date of birth	(1999-09-11) 11 September 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth	Canning Town, London Borough of Newham, England
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) [1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Salford City (on loan from Derby County)
Number	6
Youth career
2012–2018	Reading
2018	Brighton & Hove Albion
2018–2020	Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2020–2023	Nottingham Forest	1	(0)
2020	→ Casa Pia (loan)	5	(0)
2020–2021	→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)	39	(0)
2022	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	19	(0)
2022–2023	→ Reading (loan)	35	(2)
2023–	Derby County	20	(0)
2024–	→ Salford City (loan)	2	(0)
International career‡
2023–	Sierra Leone	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:58, 9 August 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:34, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

Tyrese Momodu Fornah (born 11 September 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for EFL League Two club Salford City, on loan from EFL Championship club Derby County. Born in England, he plays for the Sierra Leone national team.

Fornah graduated for the academy at Nottingham Forest, but struggled to break into the first team and had loan spells at Casa Pia, Plymouth Argyle, Shrewsbury Town and Reading. In August 2023, Fornah left Forest to join local rivals Derby County in a rare direct transfer between clubs.

Club career

Nottingham Forest

Fornah was a member of the Nottingham Forest academy, having joined following his release from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2018. ^[2] He signed a contract with Forest on 11 December 2019 that would keep him at the club until the summer of 2022. ^[3]

Fornah made his professional debut on 5 January 2020, appearing as a 69th-minute substitute during a 3rd round FA Cup game against Chelsea. ^{[4] [5]}

On 31 January 2020, Fornah moved on loan to Portuguese LigaPro side Casa Pia for the remainder of the season, making five appearances. ^[6]

He signed for League One side Plymouth Argyle on 2 October 2020 on a season-long loan. ^[7]

On 18 January 2022, Fornah joined League One side Shrewsbury Town on loan until the end of the season. ^[8]

On 8 July 2022, it was announced that Fornah had signed on a season-long loan with Championship side Reading. ^{[9] [10]} Despite an extended period of limited playing time, Fornah expressed an interest in signing permanently for the Royals. ^[11]

Derby County

On 25 August 2023, Fornah joined EFL League One club Derby County on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. ^[12] A day later, Fornah made his debut in Derby's 4–2 win at Peterborough United, as a 81st minute substitute for Conor Hourihane. ^[13] Fornah started his career at Derby well, with his composure on the ball and aggression off it winning over fans, ^{[14] [15]} Fornah himself stated that he had settled in to life at Derby well. ^[16] In the second half the season, Fornah would struggle for game time to a decline in performances ^[17] and injuries. ^{[18] [19]} Fornah made 23 appearances during his first season at Derby, as the club secured automatic promotion to the Championship by finishing runners-up in League One. ^[20]

Fornah featured in Derby's first match of the 2024–25 season, as an 86th minute substitute against Blackburn Rovers on 9 August 2024. ^[21] On 14 August 2024, Fornah would join League Two club Salford City on a season-long loan. ^[22]

International career

In November 2023, Fornah received his first call-up to the Sierra Leone national team for World Cup Qualifiers against Ethiopia and Egypt. ^[23]

Personal life

Born in England, Fornah is of Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean descent. ^{[24] [25]}

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 9 August 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nottingham Forest	2019–20 [26]	Championship	0	0	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2020–21 [27]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2021–22 [28]	Championship	1	0	0	0	2	0	—		3	0
	2022–23 [29]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Club totals		1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
Casa Pia (loan)	2019–20 [30]	LigaPro	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Plymouth Argyle (loan)	2020–21 [27]	League One	39	0	4	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	44	0
Shrewsbury Town (loan)	2021–22 [28]	League One	17	0	0	0	0	0	—		17	0
Reading (loan)	2022–23 [29]	Championship	35	2	1	0	1	0	—		37	2
Derby County	2023–24 [31]	League One	19	0	0	0	0	0	4 [lower-alpha 1]	0	23	0
	2024–25 [32]	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	Club totals		20	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	24	0
Salford City (loan)	2024–25 [32]	League Two	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
Career total			117	2	6	0	3	0	5	0	132	2

1. Appearance in the Football League Trophy

International

As of match played 16 October 2023

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sierra Leone	2023	1	0
Total		1	0

Honours

Derby County

• EFL League One second-place promotion: 2023–24 ^[20]

References

1. "Tyrese Fornah FIFA 22 Jul 26, 2022 SoFIFA".
2. Ireland, Shane (4 October 2019). "Forest hopeful shares two-word message - and fans will love it". nottinghampost.
3. "Fornah signs new deal". www.nottinghamforest.co.uk.
4. "Chelsea v Nottingham Forest, FA Cup third round". BBC Sport. 5 January 2020.
5. "Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest on 05 Jan 20 - Match Centre - Nottingham Forest". www.nottinghamforest.co.uk.
6. Clapson, Sarah (31 January 2020). "Reds youngster Tyrese Fornah joins Portuguese club". nottinghampost.
7. Cole, Daniel (2 October 2020). "Tyrese Fornah signs". pafc.co.uk.
8. "Salop sign Tyrese Fornah on loan until the end of the season". www.shrewsburytown.com. 18 January 2022.
9. Club, Nottingham Forest Football. "Fornah joins Reading on loan". Nottingham Forest Football Club.
10. FC, Reading. "Tyrese Fornah completes season-long loan switch to join Royals". Reading FC.
11. Low, Jonathan (9 March 2023). "What's happened to Tyrese Fornah? The Reading FC star who has had just six starts in five months". GetReading. Archived from the original on 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
12. "Derby Add Fornah To Midfield Options As Signing Number Nine". www.dcfc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
13. "Peterborough United 2–4 Derby County". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 August 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
14. "Derby County player ratings v Cambridge United as Rams frustrated at Pride Park". Derbyshire Live. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
15. "Derby County player ratings v Blackpool as brilliant Rams seal impressive win". Derbyshire Live. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
16. "Tyrese Fornah makes Derby County 'respect' point after Nottingham Forest switch". Derbyshire Live. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
17. "'Too many blew chance as Wembley dream died' - Leigh Curtis's Derby County player ratings v Bradford City". Derbyshire Live. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
18. "Forsyth, Fornah, Waghorn - Derby County injury latest ahead of Reading clash". 22 January 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
19. "Derby County injury latest v Blackpool amid Max Bird and Josh Vickers update and double boost". Derbyshire Live. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
20. "Breaking: Derby County promoted as duo seal it for Paul Warne's side". Derby Telegraph. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
21. "Derby County fell to a 4-2 defeat in their first game of the 2024/25 Sky Bet Championship season". 10 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
22. "Salford sign Derby midfielder Fornah on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
23. "FORNAH EARNS FIRST INTERNATIONAL CALL-UP FOR SIERRA LEONE". dcfc.co.uk.
24. "Tyrese Fornah". sport.de.
25. "Sierra Leone approach Reading midfielder Tyrese Fornah to ditch Ghana dreams". Sports World Ghana.
26. "Games played by Tyrese Fornah in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
27. "Games played by Tyrese Fornah in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
28. "Games played by Tyrese Fornah in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
29. "Games played by Tyrese Fornah in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
30. "T. Fornah summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
31. "Games played by Tyrese Fornah in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
32. "Games played by Tyrese Fornah in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Retrieved 8 August 2024.