Nottingham Forest boss Chris Hughton has dismissed reports linking midfielder Samba Sow with a move to Turkey.
The 31-year-old is out of contract with the Reds in the summer and earlier this week was said to be in talks with Erzurumspor about a January transfer.
Sow has played in Turkey before, for Karabukspor and Kayserispor, but has been a key player since switching to the City Ground from Dynamo Moscow in the summer of 2019.
Injuries have hampered him during his time Trentside, but after a spell on the sidelines earlier this term, he has become a regular under Hughton.
Forest are also currently short of options in the centre of the pitch, with Ryan Yates, Harry Arter and Jack Colback all out of action.
And the Reds manager has emphasised how important Sow can be as his team aim to return to winning ways against Barnsley this weekend.
“He’s been very much a part of our plans, particularly with the things we speak about in that central midfield area and the injuries we’ve had there,” Hughton told NottinghamshireLive.
“Samba is a player who has played abroad, and when you’ve done that, you tend to get a little bit more speculation abroad - particularly if it’s a country you’ve played in before.
“Just speculation.
“Central midfield is an area where we’ve had injuries and we need to protect players as much as possible.”
