At 21, the Dutch winger has been involved in English football for four seasons, making his debut in August 2021 for the Ammies against Newport County and signing his first professional deal the same month.

After loan spells with Warrington Town and Chester, N’Mail returned to the Salford fold in September 2023 and made 33 appearances – but last season his stats and performances have prompted manager Karl Robinson to put a £1million-plus tag on his head.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, the Liverpudlian compared N’Mail to one of his former Charlton Athletic charges, Ademola Lookman. The Salford boss said he was “not for sale” but in the same breath said he would definitely be charging prospective suitors more than £1m for his services.

Karl Robinson has compared Kelly N'Mai to Ademola Lookman, who signed for £10m to Everton in 2017 (Image: PA)

“He’s not for sale,” said the former MK Dons boss. “I would (turn a £1m bid down). It’s more. It is way more now. Ademola Lookman - I sold for £10m - and I liken him to Addy. So, I have reference points.

“When people say they are not for sale, that means they are not for sale for what people may think is the going price; they are only for sale for something ridiculous. Nobody is for sale on the current market value.”

In total N’Mai has 41 starts for Salford, with a further 35 appearances from the bench. During that time he has scored 12 goals.

Last season’s statistics seem to have caused most of a stir, however, with Salford awarding the youngster their Players’ Player of the Year award.

N’Mai managed an impressive 14 goals-plus-assists in League Two, according to FutMob, which placed him joint 14th in the list of the division’s talent.

His nine goals were scored from 47 shots in total, 17 of which were on target, giving him a chance conversion of 19.15 per cent. That compared favourably to the numbers returned in the Bolton attack last season, where John McAtee (15.7), Victor Adeboyejo (12.5), Aaron Collins (10.9) endured a rather wasteful campaign. For the record, Dion Charles finished with 10.3 per cent, splitting his time between the Whites and Huddersfield Town.

In terms of the total number of chances creates, N’Mai finished joint 33rd (1.2 per game) on 32. Notts County’s Denver Hulme finished top of the list on 96 chances created (2.3 per 90 mins).

The Salford winger averaged the most successful dribbles in League Two per 90 minutes last season (2.6) among those players who had more than 20 appearances across the whole season, level with Cheltenham Town’s Jordan Thomas. He also finished top of the pile with unsuccessful dribbles (4.6), leading the table from Barrow Katia Kouyate.

N’Mai also led the table for the total number of times he ran at opposing defenders with the ball (7.6 per 90 mins, 196 in total).

Within the Bolton players who featured in 20 games or more, two averaged more dribbles in total per 90 mins, Jordi Osei-Tutu (4.3) and Szabi Schon (3.1). But nobody managed to beat their opponent more often.

Opta Analysis stats showing the chances created by Kelly N'Mai last season (Image: Opta)

Of his total 203 ‘carried’ – i.e. dribbles – last season, 14 ended with a shot, 17 with a chance created, two with a goal for himself and three with an assist.

Equally, no player in League Two who had started 20 games managed to be lose possession more than N’Mai last season, averaging 2.5 per league game, underlining the sort of risk-and-reward strategy that you tend to get with wingers.

He averaged 3.7 unsuccessful touches (I.e. those which granted possession to the opponent) per game, which is higher than anyone in the Bolton camp, where Aaron Collins topped the list with 2.1 from Victor Adebjoyejo (2) and George Thomason (1.6).

According to data on Whoscored.com, N’Mai finished last season with an XG of 5.94 goals but overperformed that number, delivering nine goals for his team. He was not alone in the Salford side, with his team-mates Cole Stockton and Hakeeb Adelakun also supplying more goals than the data suggested.

At Bolton it was quite the opposite, and it won’t surprise a single supporter to learn that the team scored fewer goals than they should have done, based on the quality of opportunity created. Three of the four recognised strikers finished with a negative XG – John McAtee the only one managing to break even.

Verdict: Wanderers would unquestionably be buying into potential, with N'Mai never having played above League Two level. And there should be a note of caution taken, as the speculation seems to be spewing from the Salford end, potentially in the hope of creating a bidding war to drive up his price. But as exciting young wingers go, there was evidence last season to suggest the Salford academy product can handle the step up.