Blues boss Paul Lambert says central defender Luke Woolfenden, who he rates in the £10 million bracket, is remaining as laid-back as ever despite links with the likes of Premier League Sheffield United.
"Honestly, if Woolfy was any more laid-back he’d be horizontal!” Lambert laughed when asked how the 21-year-old was coping with the attention.
"I’m not kidding on that, I’ve never seen a guy as laid-back as that. Nothing seems to faze him.
"Sometimes you have to see if Woolfy’s got a heartbeat. Dear oh dear, he’s just taking everything in his stride really.
"I had a chat with him the other day on things. As I said before, he’s bland Woolfy but the way he’s performing football-wise, he’s been absolutely brilliant, he really has.”
Asked if there is a cut-off point at which Town wouldn’t consider offers because they wouldn’t have time to replace the academy product, who is also interesting QPR, Lambert said: "That can’t happen.
"Listen, if somebody came in, I don’t know the figure £20 million, whatever it is, that’s one thing you could never stop because of the way finances run the game and the way clubs are.
"We’re not in a position where we could turn down that level of money, it’s impossible. If that happens, it happens, but hopefully it doesn’t happen because he’s playing really, really well for us.”
He says he and owner Marcus Evans haven’t discussed a figure which would tempt them to part with the former East Bergholt High School pupil.
"No, I just know the level in the Premier League, I’ve been in it, I know the level of the Championship because I’ve been in it,” he said.
"I said the other day, there’s no way you could let what happened to the lad [Adam] Webster or the boy [Matt] Clarke [happen again], it doesn’t make sense. That can never happen again.”
Having laughed off claims the Blades could land Woolfenden for £3 million earlier in the week, Lambert was asked if the youngster is a £10 million player.
"The way the modern-day game is, aye, absolutely,” he insisted. "[For] potentially what he could be, 100 per cent is [worth that] because of the level of money [in the game].
"I’m not saying that on his ability but the level of money, the way the game is and the way it’s going. I see guys move for an incredible amount of money who I think are worth nowhere near it.
"And I think Woolfy is in that category of what you can buy now and what he’s going to be like later when he gets older.”
Turning to Woolfenden’s performances this season which have attracted the interest, Lambert said: "He’s comfortable with the ball, that’s the big thing with him. He’s playing with no fear factor, which is great for any player.
"I think the level he’s playing at and what he’s actually doing for us, is great.
"But he is comfortable with the ball, character-wise he’s really laid-back, which is totally fine.
"But he’s got so much in front of him, as long as he keeps his feet on the ground and keeps being humble, he’ll be alright.”
The Blues manager believes the centre-half or right-back benefited significantly from spending last season on loan with Swindon in League Two.
"Without a doubt,” he said. "And he wasn’t playing every game with Swindon, he was in and out of the team.
"And that would have given him a different aspect of the game - I’m not playing one week, am I going to be in next week? And he’s come here and just taken to it.
"If you saw him in Germany [in pre-season], I thought he was a country mile off it, the way he was performing in Germany.
"In training I thought he was way off it and I had to give him a talking-to over there to say ‘You’re going to have to really step it up'. And to be fair to the guy, he’s been exceptional.”
Lambert doesn’t believe that the Blues being in the midst of a promotion push and the lure of potentially winning a medal at the end of the season would be enough to persuade players to stay if a big offer were to be received.
"Money dictates. Money dictates the game now,” he said. "As I said before, if somebody comes in with millions and it puts the club in a better place, you can’t stop it.
"The money’s dictating the game. The way the game is going, the level of money that’s getting bandied out there, it keeps getting bigger and bigger.”
He says it’s harder for the likes of Town to keep hold of young players for the length of time they did in previous eras.
"Just because the level of money,” he reflected. "If you’re at a club and you aspire to get to a massive club or a bigger club that’s going to challenge for titles and all of that, things like that are going to happen.
"When you’re at those clubs you don’t want to move out of those clubs. But when you’re at a different club and it’s a smaller club compared to the biggest ones in Britain, it becomes different. And you can’t stop it because the money in the game is vast.”