For many football fans, there are few better feelings in the game than seeing a homegrown talent thrive for the club.

For Nottingham Forest fans, it looked like they would have that in Ben Osborn. Breaking into the first-team in the 2013/14 campaign, he has gone on to be a regular for the Reds, racking up 230 appearances in his five years at the City Ground.

During that spell, he has been deployed in a variety of positions, including left-back, left-wing, centre-midfielder, attacking-midfielder, defensive-midfielder and even on the right-wing.

It was left-midfield that was always his primary position, although this versatility has made him an invaluable member of the Reds squad.

But it now looks like he has played his last game for his boyhood club with newly-promoted Sheffield United edging closer and closer to a deal for him.

Paul Taylor of the Nottingham Post reported on Tuesday night that the deal is thought to be worth around £3million to Sabri Lamouchi's side and that an announcement is imminent.

But, going on his most recent campaign, is it the right move to sell Osborn?

It was a bit of an odd campaign for the 24-year-old as he was once again deployed in a variety of roles.

According to Transfermarkt, he played 21 games in his preferred left-midfield position, 17 at left-back and six in central-midfield.

In terms of his direct contribuitions, it was not the most fruitful of seasons, netting just once and assisting five more.

His shot accuracy of just over 38% shows us why those figures may have been so low as he struggled to make an impact at the attacking end of the pitch.

But a pass accuracy of 76% shows his value and just why he is capable of playing in such a range of roles, keeping possession safe and keeping attacking moves ticking over.

However, when all aspects are weighed up, it feels like the right time for Forest to cash-in.

When Osborn broke into the side five years ago, there was real excitement at the attacking threat that he could become in the future.

Sadly, that has not materialised and he has now morphed, and been moulded, into an industrious player who, although very useful, is perhaps not the player Forest now need.

Because of those hard-working qualities, he will no doubt become a very useful asset under Chris Wilder.

But for Lamouchi, bringing in an extra £3million for a player who did not look likely to be a large part of his plans next season is good business.