Nottingham Forest have been handed a major boost in their bid to bring Max Lowe to the City Ground this summer.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by Football League World, who claim that, despite having seen an initial offer rejected for the Sheffield United left-back, Dane Murphy is now close to completing a season-long loan deal for the defender.

Further reports had claimed that both Swansea City and Reading were also interested in the former Derby County man, however, it would now appear as if Forest have won the race for the 24-year-old.

Murphy will be buzzing

Considering just how short Chris Hughton's side currently is at left-back, as well as having seen an initial offer for Lowe turned down by the Blades, the fact that the Reds now appear to be close to landing the defender is sure to have left Murphy buzzing.

Indeed, while summer signing Jordi Osei-Tutu had been filling in on the left-hand side of defence, his recent injury has once again left Hughton with only Gaetan Bong as a viable option in the position - with the 33-year-old having been informed he was free to leave the club earlier this summer.

As such, it very much appeared a priority for Murphy to bring in a fresh face in the position prior to the closure of the summer transfer window on Tuesday, and, in Max Lowe, it would appear the Forest CEO has landed an extremely capable player.

While it is true that Lowe failed to establish himself in Sheffield United's starting XI last season, making just eight Premier League appearances over the course of the club's campaign, the 24-year-old nevertheless proved during his time at Derby that he will be a very useful player for Hughton this season.

Indeed, over his 29 Championship appearances for the Rams in 2019/20, the £2.7m-rated defender helped his side keep three clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.6 interceptions, 3.7 tackles, 1.6 clearances and winning 6.9 duels per game.

These returns saw the man Danny Law dubbed an "impressive" player earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.83, ranking the £14k-per-week left-back as the club's 14th-best performer in the second tier of English football.

As such, should Forest indeed go on to complete a deal for the former England U20 international in the coming days, it would undoubtedly come as a massive boost for Hughton, who is very much in need of one following the Garibaldi's diabolical start to the season.

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