The Hibs defender was the subject of an offer, thought to be in the region of £1 million, which was rejected outright by the Easter Road side, who also fended off interest from Birmingham City in striker Kevin Nisbet.
Porteous was dropped for the subsequent matches against Dundee United and St Mirren due to the potential distraction, though he climbed off the bench in the latter game and netted the opening goal.
And now Rowett has revealed his club saw “real potential” in the Scottish under-21 international and won’t rule out a potential return for the centre-back in the summer window.
The London club are also chasing a deal for Motherwell midfielder Allan Campbell. The 22-year-old is in the last six months of his deal but it's been reported a development fee of £500,000 would still be due to the Steelmen.
Rowett said: “We had some really good targets, a couple of young players in Scotland who have done really well at their clubs and we saw real potential for the future – not necessarily right now.
“The offers that we made were rejected by their clubs and the clubs have every right to do that. They are contractually tied to the club – whether they are players we will pursue in the summer remains to be seen."
Hibs are under little pressure to sell Porteous with over two years left on his contract.