Stoke City have been handed a boost to their hopes of keeping Nathan Collins at the bet356 Stadium this summer.

What's the talk?

That's according to The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, who claimed in a post on Twitter that Sean Dyche's Burnley side are yet to agree a deal for the 20-year-old centre-back.

This news comes following a report that the Premier League club were preparing a £12m offer for the Ireland U21 international, with both Manchester United and Arsenal also thought to be keeping a close eye on the defender ahead of a potential move this summer.

However, Nixon went on to claim in a further tweet that Michael O'Neill's team could be hoping for something of a bidding war to start for Collins, in order to get the largest possible fee they can for one of their brightest stars if he is to leave the club.

Fans will be buzzing

While the news that Burnley have not yet agreed a deal for the 20-year-old in no way means Collins will be playing his football at the bet365 Stadium next season, the fact that the defender is no closer to leaving Stoke is sure to have fans buzzing.

Indeed, over his 22 Championship appearances for O'Neill's side last season, the £1.8m-rated man helped his team keep nine clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.2 interceptions, 1.1 tackles and winning five duels per game.

The youngster also impressed for the Potters in an attacking capacity, scoring two goals and providing one assist in the league, in addition to making an average of 0.5 key passes per fixture.

These returns saw the £5.9k-per-week Collins earn an impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.90, ranking him as Stoke's ninth-best performer in the second tier of English football.

As such, with fans of the club undoubtedly hoping that their team can mount a push up the Championship table next season, and perhaps even clinch a top-six finish, retaining the services of a man whom Jim Crawford dubbed "fantastic" is sure to provide Stoke with a huge boost to their chances of going on and achieving this feat.

In other news: Stoke dealt huge summer transfer blow on £8m "leader" that will leave O'Neill gutted