Brennan Johnson has been a standout performer for Nottingham Forest this season and acts as a figure of hope that the Reds can challenge for the top six in the second half of the season.
There was a lot of interest in his services in the summer transfer window and such that could re-surface come the turn of the year.
Forest have lost just one of 15 since Chris Hughton's departure in mid September and are now just four points outside the top six.
Hughton's replacement at Forest, Steve Cooper has finished in the play-offs in both of his previous seasons as a Championship manager but this time is set to be the most challenging.
The Welshman was not focusing on Brennan Johnson's future when asked about the situation by NottinghamshireLive.
Cooper 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 width that the likes of Philip Zinckernagel, Alex Mighten, Joe Lolley and Brennan Johnson have provided this season has been key to the Reds' resurgence in the last few months, so losing the latter would be a huge step backwards.
The Verdict
Johnson has a contract running until the end of next season which means that Forest will have the chance to cash in on their asset in the summer as well, if they are unable to convince him to sign a new deal.
Forest have been a sleeping giant for a long time now and in Steve Cooper they have hope of competing at the top end of the Championship once again.
The Reds came so close to a top six finish under Sabri Lamouchi in 2019/20 and could be set for another close run thing this term.
Johnson has match winning qualities and keeping him for the second half of the campaign could just be the difference between narrowly missing out on the play-offs or breaking into them in the nick of time.