Former Nottingham Forest striker Glenn Murray says he is "surprised" more clubs didn't make a move for Brennan Johnson in the January transfer window.
The 20-year-old continued his excellent form this past week by following up his goal in the FA Cup win over Leicester City on Sunday with a successful penalty attempt to seal an important 2-0 win over promotion rivals Blackburn Rovers in the Championship in midweek.
With nine goals in all competitions as a winger, Johnson has attracted interest from a number of clubs, including Burnley, Leeds United, Leicester City, Everton, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Brighton.
Brentford are the Premier League club who have most closely linked with the youngster, though, and have reportedly had multiple bids rejected by Forest.
Johnson has just 18 months left on his contract, and Murray is confounded that more clubs did not make an effort to test the Reds' resolve for a player who he believes is the "hottest prospect" in the Football League right now.
"When I look at the group of players they've got there, they've got a young, energetic squad," Murray told the BBC Football Daily podcast.
"Brennan Johnson is the hottest prospect in the EFL, he's absolutely fantastic. A real, real special talent and I was a little bit surprised no one went sniffing around him in January, put a little bit more pressure on them and ask more questions.
"I think the Nottingham Forest fans just got to enjoy this boy while he is a Nottingham Forest player unless they were to get promoted this year.
"But they've got Johnson, Worrall, Yates; all Nottingham lads and it shows, I'm sure they tell the other lads what it means. It is a sleeping giant, I mean the atmosphere that stadium created (on Sunday) was very, very special."
Will Brennan Johnson still be at Forest next season? Let us know in the comments below!
Reflecting further on the atmosphere created by the Forest fans last weekend, Murray claims that the crowd played a big role in Forest upsetting the odds against their Midlands rivals.
"I think we have to highlight that it is a derby, Leicester and Nottingham are very close to each other. Leicester haven't been welcomed to the City Ground in a little while, so I think it was a special occasion to begin with right away.
"I think they had a good experience beating Arsenal in the last round and, ultimately, they smelt blood. They felt an upset (was on the cards).
"Leicester are not in great form at the moment, they haven't been all season, Forest are flying. As your approaching that game you think 'we've got a chance here' and I think [the fans] wanted to be heard.
"Like the old cliché, they were the twelfth man."
Get the latest Forest transfer news and opinion by signing up here!
