Cardiff City have made a formal approach to Dundee United in a bid to sign star striker David Goodwillie.
Now that their interest has been noted, should the Welsh side table an offer that is accepted by United, who value Goodwillie at £2 million, he will be reunited with former Tannadice colleague Craig Conway.
Conway joined the Bluebirds earlier this week and their new manager Malky Mackay is determined to team him up with United’s other Scottish Cup final goal hero.
Goodwillie is known to Mackay and, despite missing out on promotion to the Premiership, Cardiff still have considerable spending power to help them exit the Championship next time around.
That puts them at the front of the queue ahead of Rangers, whom they beat to grab Conway’s signature.
Goodwillie has been at the top of Ibrox boss Ally McCoist’s target list all summer and the Ibrox side made an approach on Monday to ask for a valuation.
But they have subsequently baulked at United’s asking price, with owner Craig Whyte saying he doesn’t think the hottest young goal scorer in Scotland is worth what Tangerines chairman Stephen Thompson is looking for.
But Mackay, who saw Goodwillie in action while keeping tabs on Conway last season when the Watford gaffer, has been promised a transfer budget of around £16 million so will have no problems meeting the transfer fee.Irish challengeMackay is currently on holiday but he has kept his eye on the ball as far as bringing new faces in is concerned.
Meanwhile, United manager Peter Houston has called on the club’s Irish opponents to run them off their feet.
The Tangerines fly out to Dublin on Friday for their summer training camp at the Citywest complex and will play matches against Drogheda United on Sunday and Bohemians on Tuesday.
Everything is geared towards peaking for the club’s Europa League second qualifying round first leg against Slask Wroclaw in Poland on July 14 so Houston wants his players worked hard over on the Emerald Isle.
“Results are not what we are concerned with in Ireland because it is all about the fitness,” said Houston.
“Obviously, I would love us to play well in both games but the effort and work rate are the most important aspects.”
He added, “Drogheda and Bohemians are in the middle of their season so they will be at peak fitness and we have never had an easy game against an Irish team in all the years we have been going there.
“They can be physical, and I don’t mean that in a bad sense, and are always full of running.”Houstie the scoutHouston said, “I would imagine our players will find it tough and I hope they do because that is why we are going there.
“To get your fitness levels up, you have to go through that.”
He added, “When you are playing your first or second game you need to be able to get that second wind and get the heart rate up.
“So the two games we have in Ireland will be perfect for that and will be important fitness-wise in our preparation for the European game next month.”
Talking of the continental clash, Houston is hoping to watch Slask himself when they play Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and Slovan Bratislava in Maribor, Slovenia, on July 2 and 3.
“I am looking into going out that weekend to watch them in what will be two difficult friendlies,” he said.