HIBS boss Terry Butcher is considering a swoop for former St Johnstone striker Jason Scotland.
The 34-year-old has been told by new Barnsley manager Danny Wilson he is free to move on and the Trinidad and Tobago star wants to return north of the border.
The ex-Dundee United ace is on the radar of Hibs but former club Saints, Aberdeen and Motherwell are also keeping tabs on him.
Butcher first registered his interest before the turn of the year and is poised to make his move after telling Kevin Thomson, Rowan Vine, Tim Clancy and Tom Taiwo they can leave the club.
Scotland – whose wife is Scottish – is desperate to finish his career back in the country where he made his name following a successful six-year spell in the English Championship.
The attacker was brought to the UK by former United boss Ian McCall in 2003 but moved to Saints after two years, where his form won him a move to Swansea.
Scotland stepped up to the English top flight with Wigan in 2009 but was there for just a year before joining Ipswich.
He became a fans’ favourite with the Tractor Boys and it was a shock when his contract wasn’t renewed in the summer.
The big striker headed to Barnsley where he has bagged eight goals in 18 games but Wilson is keen to build his own side and has told Scotland to find a new club.
If the veteran signs for Hibs he will bolster an attack that has scored just 19 times in the league this season, the second-worst tally behind rock-bottom Hearts.
Butcher has sent young hitman Ross Caldwell on loan to Alloa but he insists the 20-year-old can still have a future at Easter Road.
Caldwell – who scored a derby winner last May – didn’t get off to the best of starts under the new Hibees gaffer when he reacted angrily to being substituted in a 1-0 Scottish Cup win over Ross County at the end of November.
The kid had just come off the bench himself 10 minutes earlier and refused the hand of his manager before storming down the tunnel.
But Butcher has told Caldwell he isn’t being sent down to the Championship as a punishment.
He said: “People will say, ‘He’s gone out now and that’s the end of Ross Caldwell.’ Certainly not. I want to see him play in a first team. We’ll keep close tabs on Ross.”