Don't see that losing Ellis is a great loss. He might have been talked up by managers and some supporters, but those managers have never seen fit to give him any extended game time in the first team. I remember watching him in 2 or 3 FA Youth Cup games where he should have been one of the best players on the pitch, certainly in a Lincoln shirt. He never was however and I came away from all of those quite underwhelmed by him.
That said he is still young, has a chance to develop further and may well make a good career out of the game somewhere.