Nottingham Forest look to have abandoned plans to sign Max Lowe and Sheffield United could now keep him at Bramall Lane.
The Reds had hoped to re-sign the man who shone on loan last season but the Blades placed a ridiculous £5 million valuation on his head.
Paul Heckingbottom now seems keen to keep the 24-year-old as he bids to guide United to promotion next season.
Lowe made 20 appearances for Forest during 2021/22. His final outing came as a substitute in the Championship play-off final which the Reds won.
Now, he looks set for another season in the second tier and he’s been on United’s pre-season tour to Portugal.
Heckingbottom has now hinted that he will stay; despite interest from Forest and Olympiacos during the transfer window.
He told The Star: “He is staying. There was a bid for Lowey. A ridiculously low bid. A lot less than what we paid for him.
“We like the lad, he’s gone out on loan and done really well, helping a team get promotion out of this league. That’s exactly what we want.
“He’s come back really fit, he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He received from injury and is chomping at the bit, you can see that.”
Forest abandon plans to sign Lowe and they’ve done the right thing
The young defender will go down in history as one of the players who helped the Reds win the play-offs during 2021/22.
Make no bones about it though, Lowe isn’t worth £5 million and he’s never proved himself as a Premier League player.
The Reds have signed Omar Richards and are on the cusp of a deal to sign Harry Toffolo from Huddersfield for just £2.5 million.
Richards spent last season at Bayern Munich, making 17 appearances for the senior team and he’s only cost Forest £8.5 million.
It’s easy to understand where Heckingbottom is coming from. He wants his club to recoup the going rate for his players but the valuation is steep.
As a result, Forest have been wise to move on and it’ll be interesting to see how Lowe performs for the Blades next season.