Nottingham Forest have been handed a boost to their hopes of keeping Joe Worrall at The City Ground this summer.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by Lancashire Live, who claim that Burnley are preparing a £12m offer for Stoke City centre-back Nathan Collins, who is also said to be attracting interest from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, in the coming weeks.

The report goes on to state that Sean Dyche's side still have a number of other potential centre-back targets on their radar, including Nottingham Forest's Joe Worrall, although Collins now appears to be the Clarets' first choice for the position this summer.

Hughton will be delighted

Despite Nottingham Forest having something of a season to forget last term, Worrall nonetheless impressed with his performances from the heart of the Garibaldi defence.

Over his 31 Championship appearances, the 24-year-old helped his side keep 12 clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.1 interceptions, 0.8 tackles, 4.2 clearances and winning 3.5 duels per game.

The £3.6m-rated defender also posed a threat going forwards, scoring one goal and registering one assist, as well as making an average of 0.3 key passes per fixture.

These returns culminated in Worrall earning a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.94, ranking him as Hughton's fifth-best performer in the second tier.

As such, with the 62-year-old undoubtedly looking to build a side this summer that is capable of a much more respectable finish in the Championship next time around, retaining the services of the player whom Steven Gerrard dubbed a "leader" is sure to be high on his list of priorities.

And, with it looking as if Burnley have turned their attentions away from the £10k-per-week Forest star, it seems as if the 24-year-old may well be playing his football at The City Ground next season - for now, at least.

In other news: Forget Garner: Hughton must sanction Forest swoop for "quality" £2.25m-rated dynamo