The situation of Bristol Rovers' Matty Taylor still remains very ominous as Championship clubs look to be amongst those circling for the striker's services.

Rovers fans are becoming increasingly worried about his contract situation, having been offered a new deal but still considering his next move - even if it would see him become the highest paid player at the club by some distance.

That is no doubt due to the Championship clubs submitting interest in the forward and would most likely offer lucrative wage packets.

The hesitation on Taylor's part is certainly nothing personal to Bristol Rovers.

Instead, the forward is reportedly aware of interest from the likes of Wigan Athletic and Scottish giants Celtic.

With the bigger clubs of both English football and Scottish football looming large, it is clear that Taylor's head has quite simply been turned by a potential move to a higher standard of football.

Where did it all begin for Taylor?

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Matty Taylor's story is one that has occurred at remarkable pace with pundits around the country labelling him the 'next Jamie Vardy.'

Now, what might sound a rather far fetched headline for those of you who don't know Taylor's rise to where he is now should cast an eye over his history.

His career began at Oxford United where he played just 7 times over a spell that ran from 2007 to 2009.

From there, he decided to drop down to Southern League South and West division side North Leigh to resurrect his career - he went on to score a remarkable 80 goals over two seasons.

He then began to push his career forward when he joined Forest Green Rovers in 2011, scoring 22 times for the Conference club. It was then that Rovers spotted Taylor and took him on after their relegation to the Conference.

His time at Rovers

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In his first season at the Memorial Stadium, Taylor notched 20 goals to help Rovers towards an instant return to Football League at the first time of asking.

More impressively, though, was his first season in the Football League, one that saw him score an astonishing 28 goals in the 2015/16 campaign - the highest in the entire pyramid.

In the process, Taylor was at the heart of Rovers' successful promotion push as well as being the first Rovers player to score 20+ goals in consecutive seasons, since Jamie Cureton.

His game has improved massively whilst at the Pirates.

Many fans didn't expect him to succeed in the way he did last season. The reasoning for that wasn't unfair by any stretch of the imagination.

The 2014/15 season in the Vanarama Conference saw him easily shrugged off the ball at times and was regularly suspect to missing easy chances.

However, he has since proved many doubters wrong over the 2015/16 campaign with huge improvements to his finishing, ability to bring others into play and most importantly his strength.

That all culminated in a spectacular season for Taylor as his goal scoring record warranted him the Player of the Year award at the club.

As a result, it isn't hard to see why Championship clubs like Wigan Athletic are monitoring the forward closely and it seems Rovers face a large task in keeping him with the SkyBet League One side.

His next move

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The move to a Championship club is incredibly inviting for the 26-year old, who could have only dreamt of a move to the likes of Wigan a couple of years ago.

Their very own in-form striker, Will Grigg, is also subject to huge transfer speculation which means that Wigan could turn to Taylor as the Republic of Ireland-international's replacement.

Even without the guarantee of first team football every week, the move to a Championship side is still incredibly inviting prospect for the 26 year old - with further development almost guaranteed around top quality players.

His move from Oxford to North Leigh in 2009 showed the ambition he had to kick-start his career and perhaps that could signify a move over the summer for the striker.

Taylor was constantly questioned by local press over whether he would stay at Rovers at the end of last season - no matter what the outcome was from an end of season promotion push. The worries of Rovers fans were not eased by Taylor who said, despite focusing on the team's performances, he had a desire to play at "the highest level possible.'

And, despite the club achieving automatic promotion and almost instantly offering the 28-goal striker a new deal, he has been reluctant to put pen to paper with interest from elsewhere. Birmingham City are the latest side to be "heavily" linked with the 26-year-old ahead of the expiration of his contract with the Pirates on 30th June.

It is quite easy for football fans to forget that players are not always boyhood fans of the club they play for. Instead they are quite simply playing football to make a living - no matter how easy that sounds! Therefore, this transfer saga could be one to show how footballers value money over other factors. Besides, if you were offered wages triple the amount you are currently on you would more than happily take it, right?

Verdict - Will he stay or go?

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Whilst it would be refreshing to see Taylor stay at the Memorial Stadium to improve his career at a healthy pace, the longer there is no news of a deal with the Gas it seems incredibly likely that he will not be playing in a blue and white quarters shirts next season.

No matter how much effort Rovers have put into a deal for the highly-rated striker, the ball is certainly in the striker's court and will continue to be so until any sign of putting pen to paper at a club.

You can definitely expect this story to develop over the summer as Taylor assesses his options - either at Rovers or elsewhere.

One thing is for sure though, Rovers have made it abundantly clear that they will not "break the bank" to keep any player at the club and the saga involving Matty Taylor is certainly showing the club's defiance on modest spending.

Bristol Rovers fans... do you expect Matty Taylor stay at the club or is he bound to follow a bigger pay cheque? Let us know in the comment section below with your views!