Jon Dahl Tomasson only expects interest in Ben Brereton to ramp up and says there can be no guarantees over his future.

Brereton is into the final year of his deal after Rovers took up the 12-month option in his contract to take him through to 2023.

After his 22 goals last season, and impressive displays on the international stage for Chile, speculation has been intense surrounding Rovers’ star man.

Tomasson can understand why having been impressed by Brereton since his return to training, the attacker Rovers’ main threat in the first match of their two-part friendly with Accrington Stanley on Saturday.

He remains a Rovers player, and will be part of the squad travelling to Scotland later today, but there are no guarantees beyond that he will remain at Ewood Park beyond the transfer window which runs to September 1.

West Ham are taking an increasingly close interest in Brereton’s situation.

Tomasson said that interest comes as no surprise, adding: “We all know that he’s an excellent player, playing for the national team, scoring lots of goals.

“He scored 22 goals last season, he’s an excellent player and you can see that.

“Good players are wanted in the Premier League, I don’t think I can give any guarantees that he’ll be here.

“He has one year left and he’s a great player.

“Big clubs want him, which is understandable.”

Mark Warburton, who was Nottingham Forest manager in 2017 during Brereton’s emergence onto the first-team scene, has joined the coaching staff at West Ham United which will only strengthen their interest in a summer move.

Rovers will look to hold out for at least £20m for Brereton should he move on in this window, but their bargaining power isn’t helped by him moving into the last year of his deal.

That was the case with Adam Armstrong last summer who eventually moved to Southampton for an initial £15m, with add-ons taking it to £20m.

Armstrong endured a difficult season at St Mary’s scoring only twice, despite netting on his debut, and that could impact on clubs weighing up whether to make a move for Brereton who hit 22 goals last term.

However, his flexibility of being able to play across the forward line, as well his impressive displays for Chile since pledging his allegiance to La Roja last summer, have seen a host of clubs linked with moves for Brereton.

Should he not leave in this window, and not sign a new deal, then clubs could hold out to sign him on a free transfer next summer when his contract expires, given he will be 24 by that point, with no entitlement to compensation.

Nottingham Forest would be due a slice of any sale of Brereton, but the move wouldn’t be affected in the same way that the Armstrong deal was, given Newcastle took 45 per cent of the profit following his £1.75m move in 2018.

Brereton joined Forest in the same summer for a fee in the region of £6m, and his sell-on fee is understood to be considerably lower.

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