HIBERNIAN'S hopes of re-signing former keeper Ben Williams look set to be scuppered by a possible compensation issue.
The Easter Road outfit have held discussions over a move to bring the former Manchester United back to the capital this summer.
However, the 32-year-old, who reluctantly left 12 months ago after two years at the club following relegation from the Premiership, still has a year left on his current contract at Bradford City after penning an 18-month extension midway through last season.
The ex-Crewe and Colchester United shot-stopper is scheduled to return on Monday to pre-season training with the Bantams, for whom he played 25 times last term.
It is understood Williams would consider a return to Hibs if a formal approach transpires but the Easter Road club are expected to be unwilling to pay any fee to the English League One side, meaning they are likely to have to look elsewhere.
Last season's number one, the loan signing Mark Oxley, is out of contract with Hull City this summer and is also still under consideration for a permanent deal.
However, as things stand, head coach Alan Stubbs will return for the start of his pre-season preparations today with development squad keeper Sean Brennan following the departure of Tomas Cerny and Kleton Perntreou at the end of the campaign.
Meanwhile, freed Dundee United defender Keith Watson is not expected to be offered a permanent contract by Hibs after spending the second half of last term on loan at Easter Road.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article