Boss Chris Hughton was coy on the subject of Marcus McGuane’s future, when quizzed about the Nottingham Forest midfielder.
Oxford United are keen to sign the former Barcelona and Arsenal man after he impressed on loan there this term.
Talks between the two clubs are said to be underway and U’s boss Karl Robinson has strongly hinted a deal is close to being done.
Hughton, though, remained tight-lipped on the matter ahead of his team’s trip to Bristol City at the weekend.
“I haven’t seen him live, but I’ve seen some of his earlier games at Oxford,” the Reds manager told NottinghamshireLive.
“He’s been out injured for a while and I think he’ll miss the rest of the season.
“As regards any of our young lads, the only thing which will be fact is whenever something comes out from us as a club.
“He’s a young player who has done well there.
“I’m quite sure for our young players who have done well at their loan clubs there will always be that talk and that speculation.
“But at this moment, we’re expecting him to come back for pre-season - unless we as a club think differently.”
McGuane has a year left to run on his contract at the City Ground after he signed from Spanish giants Barca in February 2020.
He has not featured for the Forest first-team since making the move, but made a positive impact in his 21 appearances for Oxford before a thigh injury ended his campaign early.
Robinson said in a cryptic message after his team’s 2-1 defeat to Accrington on Monday he was hoping for good news about a certain player coming back.
And he went on to tell the Oxford Mail of McGuane: “Everyone knows how much I want him back here. He wants to be back here as well.
“We’re working extremely hard and hopefully we can have some news on him.
“He’s certainly a player that we know the owners want.
“We know Notts Forest are happy with it and we’re happy with what we think we can get out of the deal.
“Hopefully in the next seven days we can have some news.”
