With Brian McLean in talks with Ross County over a possible move, Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara’s hunt for a central defender will now intensify.
The former Falkirk, Motherwell and Preston defender returned home from the Tangerines’ training camp in Germany to begin discussions over a possible move to County.
Signed last summer, the defender made 38 appearances for the Tannadice side, scoring once against Dundee in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
However, many of his starts arose because Sean Dillon, Gavin Gunning and Keith Watson were sidelined through injuries.
McNamara confirmed: “Brian returned home last Friday and is talking to Ross County.
“But, even although we have brought in Calum Butcher, we were still seeking another central defender and, after deciding not to pursue our interest in Ismo Vorstermans, that remains ongoing.”
The Dutch defender only played an hour of United’s 2-0 defeat to Energie Cottbus before the Tangerines gaffer elected to look elsewhere.
Also moving on is United’s training camp. The squad flew from Germany to Spain early on Saturday morning after just a few hours’ sleep following the game.
And last night they were met at their new base at San Roque, just a few miles north of Gibraltar, by Frenchman Jean Yves Koue, their latest defensive trialist.
The 20-year-old started his career with Rheims, but after one season there moved to Cannes in 2011.
He will get a chance to show his paces in training this week and in a friendly on Friday evening.
This originally was to have been a closed-doors game against Second Division Spanish side Cordoba but there has now been a change to United’s schedule.
They now meet local side San Roque at their stadium in an open doors game, with a kick-off time of 7pm local time.