Nottingham Forest were prepared to sell Joe Worrall to Brentford this weekend - only for the Bees to pursue another target ahead of the 24-year-old, according to Alan Nixon.

Worrall had a fine season for Forest in the Championship and his performances have led to interest from the top flight, with the likes of Burnley and West Ham linked with his signature.

But it is the newly-promoted Bees who were seemingly in the hot-seat to sign Worrall recently, but per Nixon their plans have changed and it looks as though Celtic's Kristoffer Ajer is the man arriving at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Forest would probably prefer not to sell Worrall anyway as they need to keep their most important players if they are to mount a promotion push in the 2021-22 season, however Nixon has hinted that Brentford put a bid of between £10 million and £12 million on the table for the towering defender.

And that clearly is the ballpark figure that Forest are looking for if they were believed to have been set to sell the Tricky Trees academy graduate to Thomas Frank's side, however that deal is seemingly dead and now other interested parties know the apparent price it could spark a bidding war.

The Verdict

Now that one bid from the Premier League has come for Worrall, expect more to follow from the other interested parties.

Top flight teams tend to get busier the closer we get to the start of the season, and around this time teams are only just getting pre-season underway so the market is usually less active.

If Forest are happy to sell for the eight-figure price that Nixon mentioned, then it is a significant fee that fans would hope will be reinvested into the playing squad, but at the same time it would seem unrealistic to expect Chris Hughton to go out and spend £10 million for a Championship side.

Supporters will be hoping that Worrall does not depart but this latest development suggests that it may be sooner rather than later.