Joe Worrall is open to making a summer return to Nottingham Forest or a £30 million move to Rangers.
The latter of those two scenarios will not happen.
Steven Gerrard may well decide to table an offer when the window re-opens, but he won’t be dealing in such lofty figures.
If a bid were to be made, then those at the City Ground would have a decision to make.
Worrall does not appear to be all that bothered about what happens.
He has said in the Scottish Sun: “I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t going to play.
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“I believe in my ability. I believe I should be playing at Forest but that’s not going to be happening this season.
“I’m not thinking about the future. I’m loving Rangers, it’s a fantastic football club and has a massive place in my heart.
“Being on loan, it’s hard to say whether I want to stay.
“If they want to buy me for £30m in the summer, fantastic! If not, I’ll be happy to go back to Forest.”
Graduate
The Reds have offered no indication that they are looking to do a deal.
Worrall only signed a four-and-a-half-year contact back in July 2017.
Admittedly that feels like a lifetime ago given all that has gone on since.
Terms were agreed with an academy graduate while Mark Warburton – a former Rangers manager – was at the helm.
Aitor Karanka has come and gone since then, with the baton passed to Martin O’Neill.
The Forest legend is yet to get a look at a player that technically forms part of his plans.
With Worrall in Scotland, other options have been both used and acquired.
It was suggested by the Nottingham Post during the January window, with the Reds in a midst of a centre-half crisis, that O’Neill was keen to cut short a spell at Ibrox.
If that were the case, before it emerged that Forest would have to pay to get their own player back, then the Northern Irishman is clearly open to working with an academy graduate.
Such talk did, however, materialise prior to a pre-deadline flurry of transfer activity.
Forest have moved out Danny Fox, but brought in Yohan Benalouane, Molla Wague and Alexander Milosevic.
Options
Wague is only a short-term loan agreement, but the other two options have penned 18-month deals.
They have joined the walked wounded of Michael Dawson, Tobias Figueiredo and Michael Hefele at the City Ground.
That trio are all under contract and due to be part of the set-up in 2019/20.
Add Worrall to the pot and Forest – having been down to the bare bones this term – will have six centre-halves on their hands.
That feels slightly excessive.
It also suggests that there will be at least one odd man out.
Will that be Worrall?
At just 22 years of age he remains a rough diamond and not the kind of player that Forest would want to move on and risk seeing polished elsewhere.
It is, however, difficult to predict what will happen.
There will be no £30m bids – that much we do know – but whether Worrall is part of the past or future remains to be seen.