Nottingham Forest are ready to cool their interest in Millwall winger Jed Wallace as they believe they are on course to keep Brennan Johnson.
Welsh international wideman Johnson,20, is in demand after seven goals and six assists this term.
Brentford are offering a club record fee of around £18million to try to convince Forest to sell.
But the Reds are holding firm with Steve Cooper’s side seventh in the Championship and into the fourth round of the FA Cup at home to holders and local rivals Leicester.
Cooper had identified Millwall’s Wallace,27, as a potential replacement for Johnson.
Wallace has five goals and six assists for the Lions this term but has not played for them since December 11.
He is out of contract in the summer and has been ruled out recently through a thigh injury but is due back soon.
Forest are pushing for promotion after moving towards the play-off positions with Tuesday night's 3-0 win over Barnsley.
The Reds are in superb form with seven wins in nine games including a stunning success over Arsenal in the FA Cup.
Speaking about Johnson after Tuesday's win over the Tykes which saw Johnson score and register an another assist, Cooper said: "He looked a threat when he got the ball.
“His assist was brilliant and his goal was brilliant.
“He’s a talented boy and we love him.
“We’ve just got to keep working hard with him and keep pushing him.”
But while Forest are desperate to retain Johnson, they are willing to offload big-earning Lyle Taylor, who is wanted by Birmingham on loan.
The front man was not included in the matchday squad as the Reds eased to a 3-0 win over Barnsley at the City Ground.
The 31-year-old has struggled for regular game time since he joined in the summer of 2020 and has usually been a sub.
Cooper added: “I’ve been fair with Lyle, and he’s been really fair with me and the club as well.
“He wants to play. He’s 30-plus, he lives for playing and I haven’t been able to give him that opportunity. At the same time, I didn’t want to stand in his way of getting games.
“Lyle has been good around the place. We’ve had a lot of open discussion from not long from when I first came in about what things may look like for him.”
