The Scotland international striker, who has made a successful return from a long-term knee injury, banging in seven goals in his first seven games, is the subject of interest from Millwall, but the English Championship side have fallen well shy of the Leith club’s valuation of the player.

The Easter Road outfit have had to fend off interest in their prize asset before and turned down a near-£3m offer from Birmingham City two years ago. Since then, the 25-year-old has been capped 10 times for Scotland, scoring once and featuring for Steve Clarke’s men in each of their three group games at Euro 2020 and, although he has spent most of the past year rehabilitating from an injury sustained in a 0-0 draw with Celtic last February, he has hit the ground running since his reintroduction following the World Cup break, showing some of the best form of his career.

Hibs boss Lee Johnson already faces the prospect of losing main defender Ryan Porteous in this window, and is anxiously awaiting results of a scan that will determine the extent of Rocky Bushiri’s injury. Stretchered off in the weekend derby defeat, his manager feared a broken leg but they are still awaiting the full diagnosis and projected time on the sidelines.

Millwall are keen on signing Kevin Nisbet from Hibs and have tabled a £1million bid.

While those defensive woes need to be dealt with, the club have also had issues in the attacking department. Aiden McGeady is back fit, and Elie Youan has shown improvement but with Kyle Magennis, Mykola Kukharevych and Martin Boyle all in the treatment room, if Porteous goes, that leaves only Nisbet and midfielder Josh Campbell who have scored more than one goal on league duty this term.

Nisbet signed for the club from Dunfermline Athletic in 2020 and, as one of the most promising and in-demand young strikers in the country, he was always seen as an investment. Signed up on a four-year deal, any decisions about his future remains in Hibs’ hands.

When the striker was being chased by Birmingham City, Porteous was also the subject of a £1m bid from Millwall. Again, the club wanted more. Now, with his current deal set to expire in the summer, they face losing him for nothing unless he is moved out at a knockdown price this month. Blackburn Rovers, Watford, Toulouse and Udinese are all waiting in the wings.

Once bitten, twice shy, the club do not want to risk the same thing happening with Nisbet but that does not mean they will allow him to go in this window, and certainly not for the £1m starting bid tabled by The Lions.

Hibs reject Millwall bid for Kevin Nisbet after Lions fall well short of Scotland striker's valuation