Reports coming out of The Pilot Field earlier this week said the 21-year-old forward would be staying put after Hastings rejected what they considered to be a derisory offer of £600 from Ashford Town.

But it was later revealed that this might not be the end of a transfer saga which has been dragging on through the summer.

Hastings are determined not to let Adams go on the cheap and are believed to have slapped a fee in the region of £10,000 on their leading scorer from last season.

A similar amount saw ex-Hastings player Carl Rook transfer from Horsham to Tonbridge Angels in December.

Rook actually left The U's at a time when he could not displace Adams in the starting line-up.

A club statement read: "After several weeks supposedly spent awaiting a tribunal decision on Sam Adams' proposed transfer to Ashford Town, the club was surprised to receive what it considered to be an utterly derisory £600 bid from the Kent side, for a player whom United value much more highly.

"Having summarily rejected the offer, the club is delighted to confirm that Sam is now committed to staying at The Pilot Field for the 2008/09 season, where he remains on contract for a further year."

Hastings manager John Lambert said: "As it stands Ashford don't want to give anything for him and we don't want to give him away.

"I would be more than happy to have him back, he's just a football boy and wants to play."