Ross County are keen to bring midfielder Jamie Lindsay back to Victoria Park following the end of his loan spell from Celtic.
Lindsay spent last season on loan from the Hoops and made a strong impression despite the Staggies finishing bottom of the Premiership, making 32 appearances and scoring twice.
The 22-year-old, who has yet to make an appearance for Celtic’s first team and previously had loan stints with Dumbarton and Morton, is unclear over his future at Parkhead and will seek clarification in the coming weeks.
County have told Lindsay they are keen to bring him back but they face competition for his signature.
Staggies co-manager Steven Ferguson said: “At the moment, he has to go back to parent club but Jamie is a player we would like to keep.”
County have started preparing for life in the Championship and held talks with their squad earlier this week, while Iain Vigurs became the Staggies’ first summer signing when he joined from rivals Caley Thistle on Wednesday.
Ferguson is hopeful of persuading more players to remain at Dingwall, adding: “Stuart Kettlewell and I spoke with the players at the beginning of the week and we believe we’ve offered the best deals we can with the cuts implemented and the reduced budget.
“We’ve not tried to dress that up with any of the players. We’ve said this is what it is – the best deal.
“With the good players we have, there may be other clubs interested and trying to turn their heads. That’s absolutely fine – the players then have a decision to make.
“We know where they stand. They have to appreciate we’ve dropped down a division and we can’t live at the level we did in the Premiership. The players understand that as well as we do.
“Stuart and I have to get last year’s group of players sorted as quickly as we can so we know exactly what we’ve got and where we need to add.
“We have signing targets we’re speaking to at the moment but our priority is to make sure we understand where last year’s squad sits first.
“That will give us a really good indication of who really wants to be here, playing in the Championship. We need to make sure we have a group of players who want to be here at Ross County.”
