Derby County have been handed a boost in their bid to keep Lee Buchanan at Pride Park this summer.

What's the talk?

That's according to a claim made by Alan Nixon, with The Sun journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that Nottingham Forest's proposed move for the left-back is believed to have stalled.

It has been reported that Forest have made two separate bids for the Rams defender, with the first rejected due to the offer being well below Derby's valuation of the 20-year-old, and the second knocked back as Wayne Rooney's side would not feel comfortable selling one of their most talented players to a local rival.

This appears to have taken the wind out of Forest's sails, as in response to a fan asking for an update on the situation of Buchanan, Nixon said: "Don't think Forest any more. So that one has stalled."

Music to the ears of fans

Considering the sheer amount of potential Buchanan seems to possess, the Rams' resoluteness in their stance against the left-back's sale this summer is sure to be music to the ears of Derby fans, particularly to their fiercest of rivals and despite the club being in the midst of a financial crisis.

Indeed, over his 35 Championship appearances last season, the £2.25m-rated man helped his side keep seven clean sheets, averaging 0.9 interceptions, 1.6 tackles and 2.3 clearances and winning 6.1 duels per game.

The defender also impressed in an attacking capacity, registering three assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, in addition to making an average of 0.4 key passes per match.

These metrics saw the man Rooney dubbed "one of the best young left-backs in the country" earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.67, a rather impressive feat considering his tender age and the Rams' battle with relegation last term.

As such, keeping hold of the youngster would not only appear to boost Derby's chances of securing survival in the Championship next season, as the 20-year-old develops further, it also brings with it the possibility of the Rams cashing in on the England under-21 international for a much larger fee in the future - and ideally to someone other than the club's arch-rivals.

In other news: Rooney sleepwalking towards his biggest Derby County howler, fans will be livid