RUSSELL Martin admitted he expected Che Adams to leave earlier in the summer before a deal stopped dead – and says the club will replace him if he completes an exit now.

The Scotland international striker is reportedly the subject of a £12million bid from Premier League Everton in the last 24 hours.

Martin, who is preparing his side for their Saturday lunchtime trip to Plymouth Argyle, has not yet been informed of the bid by director of football Jason Wilcox.

Asked about negotiations, Martin responded: “I don’t know anything about the bid as it would have happened late last night and I haven’t caught up with Jason this morning.

“It will all depend on how close the bid is to our valuation as a club with how we see Che. I’d love to keep him given the impact he’s had in two games.

“He’s had less minutes at the start of the season than Arma because at the time it looked like he would be going elsewhere but that just stopped and didn’t happen,” he added.

“He found himself out of the team for that reason. He’s a really good player and his energy has been great so I’d be gutted to lose him.

“At the same time, if he goes it will be for a sum of money that the club deem appropriate and a sum of money which can presumably mean we can replace him.

“Ideally you want to keep some players and some players are real value in terms of character, but we have to be prepared if we do lose him and I think we will be.

“All being well, he will still be here in two weeks’ time and if he’s not we will have someone else in the door that we are happy with, but he’s top drawer as a character.”

Martin was then asked if the club have offered Adams a new contract, with just one year left on his current deal at St Mary’s.

“There’s been discussions between us about what the future holds and everyone has decided to keep their options open, Che and the club,” Martin said.

“If he’s still here in two weeks it will be a conversation that is ongoing. He’s really happy here and is a big part of the dressing room.

“He’s enjoying what he is doing and has got a couple of goals already so is growing in confidence, but we have to see what happens, right?

“Ideally you’d like to avoid people entering the final year of their contracts but it’s happened and worked out this way for a number of reasons.”