Caley Thistle will make former Falkirk forward John Baird the first summer signing today as the squad returns for pre-season training under new manager John Robertson.
Baird has been in talks with Caley Jags since his Bairns contract expired at the end of last season, with the 31-year-old ready to join the Championship club.
Baird scored 36 goals in 106 appearances for Falkirk after joining from Queen of the South in January 2015, and has spent the majority of his career in the lower leagues along with Premiership stints at Dundee and Partick Thistle.
Robertson must wait for decisions from defenders Kevin McNaughton and Louis Laing, who have both been offered new contracts, however the Caley Jags manager fears other clubs could price the Highlanders out of deals for the pair.
Robertson will run the rule over former Motherwell defenders Joe Chalmers and David Ferguson, who have been invited to join pre-season training.
Robertson said: “We are making good progress and are close to a couple of early targets, but we can’t be sure until everything is over the line.
“We also have a couple of trialists coming in, they are young players.
“It’s been a difficult time because players are looking to see what options there are, and most Premiership clubs are not back in for pre-season training yet so will not have made decisions about players yet.
“It’s great the League Cup starts early, but it does cause managers a problem.
“Some agents are holding back as they might be able to get better deals for their players, but that doesn’t help us with our squad being very low on numbers. There are offers which went out to Kevin McNaughton and Louis Laing, but they are keen to see what’s available.
“I’m not sure those offers will be enough because of finances other clubs can offer.”
Robertson will today return to the training ground as Inverness manager for the first time since he left to join Hearts 13 years ago.
Caley Jags will be without goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams, who was granted an extended summer break following his involvement in Wales’ squad for their recent World Cup qualifying match against Serbia.
