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Swansea City are closing in on the signing of Nottingham Forest winger Barrie McKay for around £500,000 ahead of the start of the Championship season this weekend.

The 23-year-old winger is understood to have undergone his medical alongside Bersant Celina who is also set to join the club from Manchester City.

WalesOnline spoke to journalist and Nottingham Forest season ticket holder Sam Straw about what McKay has to offer.

You can follow live updates on a busy transfer day for the Swans here.

What should Swansea fans expect from McKay?

In McKay, for the first time in a while the Reds had a natural winger with the ability to beat full-backs with ease. He was arguably the first forward to really get the crowd on their feet since Oliver Burke departed the club when he signed in July last year.

He was brought in by former manager Mark Warburton, who was keen on building a squad full of young, exciting players who would only improve as the season progressed.

The pair had previously built up a working relationship in the Scottish Premier League at Rangers, before they both proceeded to leave the club in very acrimonious circumstances.

McKay was virtually ever-present on the left wing under the management of Warburton. His possession-based style of play suited McKay’s attributes perfectly.

The winger formed a very good understanding on the pitch with Everton loanee Kieran Dowell. They had a good knowledge of each other’s game and made the Reds very dangerous going forward.

Graham Potter promises to implement a very similar system to Warburton at the Liberty Stadium, which could make it the perfect environment for McKay to get his career back on track.

What was the story of his season at Forest?

McKay scored his first Championship goal on the opening day of the season against Millwall at The City Ground, with a sublime right-footed strike which caught Jordan Archer completely by surprise. It was the perfect way for him to introduce himself.

There were only four games during Warburton’s time at the club that McKay was an unused substitute. However, his place in the team was certainly justified considering the impact he was having going forward.

In his first seven appearances for the club, he scored twice and managed to pick up four assists. There were not many forwards in the Championship that had made a better start to the season.

His best display coincided with arguably Forest’s best performance under Warburton. It came in the 4-0 win over Queens Park Rangers at the beginning of November in a game where everything just seemed to click for the Reds.

McKay was instrumental throughout the match, finding the back of the net with a sublime volley at the start of the second half. However, it was his assist for Tyler Walker’s second goal which really summed up his performance. He glided past Alex Baptiste on the left-hand side with such ease before delivering a perfect left-footed cross for Walker to smash home.

So why have Forest moved him on, and so cheaply at that?

McKay’s ability is unquestionable due to the performances he produced in the first half of last season under Warburton, but he remains inconsistent.

Since Aitor Karanka’s arrival at the club in January, he has only featured four times, with Forest losing all four games. He featured in Forest’s 3-0 defeat to Preston North End in January which was arguably the Reds’ worst performance for a very long time and resulted in a mass exodus the following day.

The winger’s performances under Karanka came across at times as uninterested which left a sour taste with some supporters. However, he simply just does not fit into the style of play that Karanka is looking to implement at the club.

Forest have been very busy in the transfer window this summer and the likes of Joe Lolley, Hillal Soudani, Matty Cash, Diogo Gonçalves and Gil Dias are all ahead of McKay in the pecking order which makes it virtually impossible for him to break into the side.

He was never going to get the chance to fight for his place in the team anyway, as McKay was one of a number of players that Karanka told were not part of his plans for this season. He has not been involved with the first team over pre-season in any capacity.

It is therefore no surprise that the Reds are looking to offload him before the transfer window closes next week. They seem happy to recoup the rumoured £500,000 they paid for him this time last year.

Which position gets the best out of him?

Due to the fact that he is two-footed, McKay has the ability to be utilised on either the left or the right wing. His pace means that he can really force opposition defenders back towards their own goal.

McKay does like it when the full-backs get up the pitch alongside him, giving him an alternative option on the overlap and also giving him the space to cut inside and let fly, as he did against Millwall on the opening day of last season.

Due to the fact he is very small in stature, he is not the strongest in the air to say the least. He will struggle to beat the majority of Championship defenders in the air, much preferring the ball to be played into his feet.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Are Forest fans surprised? What is their opinion of him?

It has been common knowledge for a long time that McKay is on his way out so nobody is surprised.

The fact McKay has essentially been frozen out of first team affairs this summer has proved that there is no room for players not involved in Karanka's project this season. This is something that has not been the case in the past and has created a bad atmosphere around the club.

Forest supporters are fully behind Karanka at the moment and trust his judgment. However, not many supporters would argue that McKay is a poor player. It wasn't that long ago fans were singing that the winger was ‘better than Zidane’ on the terraces.

Many have argued that the club should only allow the winger to leave on loan, due to the fact he is still only 23-years-old and still has the potential to improve. However, due to the number of wingers Karanka has at his disposal it is easy to see why he is open to letting him go permanently.

It would be no surprise to see McKay really find his feet once again at the Liberty Stadium and prove that he can still deliver at this level.