Nottingham Forest have been dealt a major blow 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 Dane Murphy's side have seen an offer of a season-long loan for the left-back turned down by Sheffield United.

The report goes on to state that both Reading and Swansea City are also believed to be interested in the defender, while it is unclear whether Forest will continue their pursuit of the 24-year-old following their failed approach.

Murphy must move

With there having been something of a defence overhaul at Nottingham Forest this summer, with all of Yuri Ribeiro, Nikolas Ioannou, Michael Dawson and Michael Hefele having departed the club, while it is also clear that there is no real future for either Carl Jenkinson or Gaetan Bong in Nottingham, Chris Hughton has been left rather short in a number of positions across his backline.

However, it is undoubtedly at left-back where the 62-year-old lacks the most depth, with the former Norwich City manager having to recall Bong from his exile in order to field a player in the position so far this season.

As such, it would certainly appear as if the position is somewhere Murphy must strengthen prior to the closure of the summer transfer window next Tuesday, with Lowe appearing to be a fantastic candidate for the club.

Indeed, while the former England U20 international failed to cement a place in the Sheffield United starting XI last season, making just eight appearances in the competition, the left-back nevertheless proved in the campaign prior he is an extremely capable option in the Championship.

Indeed, over his 29 second-tier appearances for Derby County back in 2019/20, the £2.7m-rated man 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 a whopping 6.9 duels per game.

These returns saw the man Alan Biggs dubbed a "proven Championship performer" earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.83, earning the £14k-per-week defender a £3.47m move to the then-Premier League side Sheffield United.

So, the signing of Lowe would not only have plugged a gap that needs filling for Hughton, his addition would also more than likely have helped to raise the overall level of defending in the Forest backline, something that is desperately needed at the City Ground at present - leading us to believe Murphy should indeed do all he can to secure a deal for the left-back over what remains of the summer transfer window.

In other news: Lost 75% duels: Abject NFFC dud who made just 6 passes badly failed Hughton vs Wolves