Albion boss Chris Hughton has issued a hands off message to Premier League and Championship admirers of Lewis Dunk.

Hughton has no intention of losing the prize asset of his defence.

Dunk has been speculatively linked this summer with a variety of clubs in the top two divisions after a breakthrough season for the 23-year-old as a regular at the heart of the back four.

Hughton told The Argus: “I felt that Lewis probably over the period I was here from January was our best player last season.

“He managed to get seven goals, which for a centre-half is a wonderful achievement.

“Everything I see from him is a player that is really developing well, so he is absolutely an important part of what we are trying to do.”

Reports of Fulham having two bids turned down for Dunk are incorrect, according to a club source. Albion have made it clear they would not contemplate selling Dunk to a Championship rival.

Hughton said: “The speculation I think is nice on him and the club, because it means he is a player that is doing well.

“But he is very much a part of what we are trying to achieve here and we, at this particular moment, are certainly not thinking in any way about losing any players.

“What we are concentrating on is making sure the team and squad is strong enough for us to be at least challenging at the right end of the table.”

Dunk will be encouraged by Albion’s improved recruitment so far this summer, which has yielded the captures of Israeli target man Tomer Hemed, full-backs Liam Rosenior and Gaetan Bong and Finland international goalkeeper Niki Mäenpää.