If we go down he might!
Indeed. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if that is the main reason why we loaned Sharp, rather than sold him. If we really don't think he's good enough for the PL, or simply that he wouldn't fit into our system, then surely we would want to sell him? And ok, maybe - like with Puncheon 18 months ago - we simply couldn't find anyone to meet our asking price, but with Sharp's quality as a Championship striker, I doubt that.
No, my thinking is that should we go down this season, we would want Sharp straight back to help fire us straight back up. Assuming we could hold onto them all, a strike-force of Lambert, Sharp and Rodriguez would destroy any Championship defence.

). Sorry, only just got up.