nottingham forest Rio Ave will take another look at Omar Richards this summer after the defender's two-year loan spell at Rio Ave officially ends. Reports in Portugal suggest his future is undecided.
The 28-year-old is expected to return to Forest for the start of pre-season preparations after spending the last two campaigns in Portugal. Although a permanent stay at Rio Avenue has not been ruled out, the decision is now in Forest's hands.
portuguese newspapers record And to ball Both report that Richards is to return to the City Ground. However, another move to Rio Avenue remains a possibility. But this depends on the assessments made in the coming weeks.
Forest to evaluate the situation
According to the record, Rio Avenue has not completely closed the door on keeping Richards. Any possibility of extending his stay will depend on the views of new manager Sotiris Tsiladopoulos. More discussion with forest technical staff would also be important.
At the moment, the expectation is that he will join Forest's preparations for the 2026–27 campaign before a final decision is reached.
A statement stated that, unless circumstances change, the defender is set to re-join Nottingham Forest at the start of pre-season.
Injury problems disrupted the season
It's fair to say that Omar Richards' second stint at Rio Avenue was much more difficult than his first.
After making 31 appearances during the 2024–25 season, the left-back only managed to make 14 appearances in 2025–26. Portuguese reports suggest that physical problems repeatedly hampered his progress.
A ligament injury in his right knee kept him out for almost three months. This prevented him from establishing any real continuity in the team. By the end of the campaign he had also lost his place in the starting eleven in preference to Nelson Abbey.
This leaves Richards returning to Nottingham Forest with questions still to be answered about his long-term future.
For now, he will go back to England and wait for Forest's decision. And in the meantime, there remains enough interest to keep alive the possibility of another stay at Rio Avenue... if the circumstances are right, of course.
