Nottingham Forest could be tempted to reignite their interest in Sheffield United's Iliman Ndiaye after the player's future was plunged into doubt by recent comments from Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom.
Ndiaye, 22, impressed at the World Cup for Senegal, assisting a goal against Qatar as a second-half substitute before starting a subsequent must-win group stage game against Ecuador and England in the round of 16. These performances were a continuation of the form from the club's Championship campaign, with the forward in an eight-way tie to be the division's top scorer after nine goals in 21 appearances ahead of the league restarting this weekend.
The South Yorkshire side host their neighbours to the west, Huddersfield Town, on Saturday afternoon, and ahead of that match, Heckingbottom was asked about the future of their standout performer. Ndiaye only has 18 months remaining on the three-year contract signed last year.
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The Athletic reported in November that the Reds 'seriously considered' tabling a bid in the region of £4-5 million for the player during the summer transfer window to provide competition for Brennan Johnson in the Forest forward line before opting against doing so and pursuing other alternatives. Heckingbottom has now admitted that were a "big bid" to come in, then "the club would sell".
"(Ndiaye) knows we want him, and everyone has made it clear, but that's up to his agent to come to the table and start talking," the Blades boss told YorkshireLive. "There's been no conversations."
"We want him to stay; he's happy, he knows it, but his people, his representatives, have got other things they want to do, as you can imagine, and they want him to explore that.
"He's our player, so we are relaxed about it. I would love him to sign here long-term because there's no secret, if a big bid comes in, no matter what I say and how much I don't want to lose him, the club will sell him.
"It's irrelevant if he's under contract or not. If the money is there and the bid is big enough, I am sure they will sell him."
What do you make of Forest's interest in Ndiaye? Have your say in the comments section...
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