Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper has insisted that he does not want to lose Brennan Johnson during the January transfer window and he has not even thought about his departure.

Johnson has emerged as one of the most sought-after young talents in the Championship over the last year or so and there was plenty of interest in him during the summer window. It was reported that Brentford were keen to potentially add him to their squad following their promotion last term, but in the end, Forest were able to keep hold of him. 

Ahead of the January transfer window, it has been reported by Football Insider that Leeds United potentially have Johnson in their sights as they aim to add more firepower to their squad. While Football League has previously reported that the likes of Everton, Newcastle United Crystal Palace, Southampton, and Brighton could all be keen on the attacker as well.

Forest will need to keep hold of players of the calibre of Johnson if they are to build on their current eight-game unbeaten run in the Championship. The attacker has fired home four goals and provided five assists in his 22 league appearances to date and that explains why he is attracting the attention of various top-flight clubs.

Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Cooper insisted has insisted that he has not even thought about the prospect of losing Johnson in January and instead he is focusing on how to best help him continue his development. 

He said: “Of course we want to keep him. I don’t want to lose anybody in January that I want to stay.

“I haven’t even thought about him leaving. I’ve just thought about how he gets better, how we support him, how we push him, how we challenge him and how we get him to strive to do even better than what he’s doing, because now is not the time for him to stand still - it’s the time for him to kick on even more.”

The Verdict

This is a pretty emphatic response from Cooper and you would expect him to have certain reassurances from the club before he took over that the Reds would not be looking to cash in on key assets in January. Therefore, it would be a surprise if they did sanction an exit for the attacker at the midway point in the campaign. 

However, Johnson is someone that is attracting interest and we have seen with Forest in previous times that they have been willing to cash in on their academy prospects for large transfer fees. So, if a side like Leeds, Palace, or Newcastle offered enough money to tempt them into a sale then there is form there to suggest it is not impossible that he could leave.

Cooper though is a manager that likes to work with and develop young and talented players and he seems to think he can get even more out of Johnson in the coming years. As a result, Forest should not be in any rush to cash in on him because the chances are that his value may only increase over the coming seasons.