Nottingham Forest’s rising star Grady McDonnell, the Irish-Canadian who models his game on Jude Bellingham

Grady McDonnell is a Canadian-born teenager with Irish roots, who most recently built his reputation while playing in Belgium — and who models his game on England and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham.

It is surely a unique background — but, either way, it is one that has led him to Nottingham Forest, where he has already made a positive impression on Oliver Glasner.

When he joined Forest in June, the 18-year-old signed on as a B team player, to go into the squad that will now be managed by Dylan Malicheff, who was himself appointed this summer.

But when Glasner had conversations with head of development Andy Reid and Malicheff, over which young players were ready to train with the first team last month, McDonnell was immediately one of those mentioned.

McDonnell made his first team debut as he played 45 minutes in the 2-0 win over Notts County, before being invited to join the first team squad in Portugal, for their pre-season training camp.

And, while it may be a while before he is properly challenging for a regular place in the Forest first team — and his immediate future will still be with the B team — he is seen as somebody with the potential to do so, if he can continue on his development path.

Born in Surrey, in British Columbia, McDonnell signed his first professional contract at the age of just 15, with Vancouver Whitecaps. When he made his senior debut for them, in a 3-1 defeat by Cavalry in May 2024, he became the third-youngest player to play in the Canadian Premier League, at 16.

In January 2025, he signed for Club Brugge in Belgium, for the second highest fee in Canadian football, at $350,000. He was drafted into the squad at Club NXT, effectively the feeder club for Club Brugge, where he played in the UEFA Youth League. He is eligible to play for both Canada and the Republic of Ireland — and has three Ireland caps at under-19 level.

The hard-working, dynamic, all-round midfielder is already enjoying a bright start to life at Forest.

“He had a good two years at club Brugge, he is going to be a very good player for Nottingham Forest in the future, maybe even for the first team,” Malicheff — who knows McDonnell well having coached in Belgian football at Anderlecht and, before that, Club Brugge over the last two seasons, before joining Forest — tells The Athletic.

“Let’s hope he gets some opportunities in the future. Perhaps we can have another academy player in the first team. I would love to help him on his path. That would be nice.”

Grady McDonnell has been handed pre-season minutes by new Forest boss Oliver Glasner (Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

Currently Forest have Ryan Yates and Zach Abbott as the two homegrown players in their senior ranks, as they look to maintain a proud record of having an academy product in every first-team matchday squad since 1941.

Yates has himself been impressed with what he has seen of McDonnell, but expects that following a similar career path to his own might be useful for the youngster. Yates had loan spells with Barrow, Shrewsbury, Notts County and Scunthorpe before making his first team debut with Forest — he is one of few players to have played in all five of the top divisions of English football.

“He has looked very good. We have some really bright young players coming through. Being in the Premier League it might be tough for them to get minutes,” said Yates, in an interview with journalists after the Notts County game, which also saw B team regulars Jimmy Sinclair, Jack Thompson and Chinaza Nwosu included in the squad.

“I had to have four different loan moves before I got my opportunity in the Championship. When some players come up to train with the first team you can see that they are not quite ready. But you can see that these guys are ready for first team minutes and, if they cannot get that at Forest, perhaps a loan move would be fantastic for them.”

In an interview with club after the same game, McDonnell said: “It was amazing, a real dream come true. I thought it was a good performance, my mind is all over the place at the moment but it was a big achievement for me and my family. Hopefully there is more to come. It’s been a great experience so far, I just try to go in and learn as much as I can from these guys around me and better myself as a player.”

In a previous interview with Transfermarkt.com, McDonnell talked about how he sees Bellingham as an inspiration. “It is his all-around game,” McDonnell said. “Offensively, defensively, he does everything. He is a lot better than me. I’m a humble guy, and I just want to keep my head down and work hard.”

Glasner’s intention this season is to have a first-team squad that is backed up by younger players from the academy. But even so, following in the footsteps of Yates or Abbott will be a significant challenge, with the bar having been raised over the last four years in the top flight, when it comes to the quality required to make the step up.

It will take something special for the next young player to make their first team breakthrough — and a loan move to get regular football at another club may prove to be the next step for many of those coming through.

In McDonnell, they have a young man who Glasner has already described as being ‘impressive’ and, if he can maintain his work ethic, his journey from Canada, via Belgium, to Nottingham may yet lead him into the Forest senior XI in future.