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He may only be 18-years-old, but already Brennan Johnson is starting to make a name for himself at Nottingham Forest.

After two substitute appearances early in the season against West Brom in the league and Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup, the midfielder was then handed his first senior start for Forest, as they took on - and comfortably beat - local rivals Derby County in the second round of the cup at the end of the month.

While it may have only been a cup game, a fixture against the Rams is always one that is going to matter for anyone connected with Forest, and so the fact that Johnson has been handed a start in such a fixture appears to highlight just how highly he is thought of around The City Ground.

It is perhaps little surprise therefore, that a recent report from The Daily Telegraph has claimed that the club have already opened talks with the teenager about signing a new long term contract at the club.

Indeed, when you look at other recent claims to have emerged regarding Johnson, the fact that Forest are so keen to secure the teenager's future with the club, does seem to make perfect sense.

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According to reports from The Daily Mirror over the course of the September international break, England manager Gareth Southgate is already keeping tabs on Johnson with the view to an England call up at some point in the future.

But while the opportunity of accepting a senior England call up may seem like an absolute no brainer for the majority of teenagers, it appears that Johnson is not in the same situation as the majority of people his age.

Despite playing for England at both Under 16s and Under 17s level, Johnson has since switched allegiance to Wales after making the step up to the Under 19s age group, before scoring on his debut for the Welsh Under 21s side during the recent international break.

That Johnson is attracting such interest at international level only serves to highlight how smart this decision is from Forest to move to secure Johnson's services at The City Ground for the foreseeable future.

Indeed, with two sides, one of whom reached the semi-finals of the most recent European Championships, and the other having reached the semi-finals of last year's World Cup, you feel it is only a matter of time until the proverbial big boys of club-level football start to take a similar level of interest in the 18-year-old.

For Forest to move quickly and preemptively here, not only puts them in a strong position to benefit from Johnson's talent for years to come, but also demonstrates the shrewdness with which the club are operating off the pitch in order to secure the futures of their key assets at the club.

With a promising start to the season on the pitch, and encouraging signs such as this off it, it does seem as though Forest are close to becoming a club on the up again, and then they may not be far away from being one of those so-called big boys, who would be competing for the services of Johnson anyway.