Interest is hotting up over Nottingham Forest defender Jordan Gabriel this summer.

What's the talk?

That's according to a claim made by Alan Nixon, who revealed in a post on Twitter that Blackpool and Huddersfield Town are in a fight to sign the Forest right-back in the summer transfer window, with the journalist stating that a deal for the £225k-rated man "won't be cheap."

An earlier report by Nottinghamshire Live claimed that Portsmouth are also keen on a move for the 22-year-old this summer, although went on to state that Chris Hughton plans to assess Gabriel in pre-season before making a decision on the youngster's future.

Forest fans should be fuming

While it would appear far from certain that Gabriel will be leaving The City Ground ahead of next season, if Hughton does eventually decide to cash on the defender Forest fans should be fuming with their manager.

Indeed, the right-back impressed over his 29 League One appearances while on loan at Blackpool last term, helping his side keep 10 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 0.8 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 1.5 clearances and winning 4.6 duels per game.

The £1.2k-per-week man also chipped in for his team in a creative capacity, registering one assist and creating one big chance for his teammates, in addition to making an average of 0.7 key passes per league fixture.

These returns saw the man the journalist Matt Scrafton dubbed an "important" player earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.75, playing a huge part in Neil Critchley's side going on to secure promotion to the Championship.

Aside from his obvious potential, the fact that Cyrus Christie has now returned to Fulham, in addition to Hughton informing Carl Jenkinson that he is free to leave the club this summer, means that Gabriel could well be the 62-year-old's only option at right-back at Forest next season.

As such, not only would the sale of Gabriel be sanctioning the departure of a player who could well go on to become a star for the Garibaldi, it would also leave the club incredibly short of options in the position, leading us to believe Hughton should not even consider the prospect of letting the 22-year-old leave this summer.

In other news: Forest now open transfer talks over "remarkable" £12k-p/w gem, fans should be buzzing