The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Saints hope to deal in Tade and Hasselbaink
ST JOHNSTONE are closing in on a batch of signing targets among them Nigel Hasselbaink, Gregory Tade, Ivan Sproule and Gary Miller.
Tade has confirmed that his representatives have held talks with Saints about a possible move to Perth, while the same can be said of Hasselbaink.
The French striker netted nine times for Inverness last season and has been offered a new deal by the Highland side’s boss Terry Butcher.
However, Tade, who previously played for Raith Rovers, is weighing up his options and he is set to hold talks with Saints boss Steve Lomas when he returns from holiday next week.
Tade told Courier Sport from Dubai: “My agent and lawyer have started negotiations with St Johnstone.
“I am on holiday at the moment and I will be returning home to France for a few days and then I will come back to Scotland and hopefully get a chance to sit down with Steve.”
The 21-year-old Dutchman Hasselbaink quit St Mirren at the end of the season after scoring eight goals in 28 starts and the Perth Saints have made the former Hamilton Accies and PSV Eindhoven man an offer.
Lomas faces competition from Kilmarnock and down south, and possibly Aberdeen.
The player’s agent, Humphrey Nijman, revealed: “St Johnstone and Kilmarnock have both offered Nigel terms, along with a club from England who don’t want to be named. Nigel is considering his options and could make a decision in the next week or so.”
Lomas confirmed yesterday that Tade, Hibs winger Ivan Sproule and Ross County defender Gary Miller are potential targets.
“They’re all ones we’re looking at and who come into our wage structure,” he admitted.
Lomas added: “I’m hoping to get a couple of signings made in the next few days.
“We’re looking to add pace to the team, get some younger players so we’ve got a good mix of youth an experience, and I also want a target man.
“Obviously we need quite a few, and I’d be really pleased if we could complete five or six deals over the next fortnight.
“Then we’ll have a shape to our squad and be in a good position to take advantage of all the players out of contract. It will definitely be a buyers’ market towards the end of the summer.
“What we don’t want to be doing is scratching around for 10 or 12.
On Sproule, Lomas observed: “I know a lot about Ivan from Northern Ireland and he certainly falls into the category of pacy players. He’s one of a few we’re looking at for that area of the team.”
A player Lomas will be looking to bring back to Mcdiarmid is last season’s loan winger Lee Croft.
One thing that looks certain is he won’t be at Derby. Rams’ boss Nigel Clough is looking to offload Croft and former Aberdeen striker Chris Maguire.
He said: “The lads who were out on loan didn’t contribute too much during the season — they were on the fringes and we need to streamline the squad a little bit to make way for players coming in.”