Sheffield Wednesday have held advanced talks with Bristol City midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson with the deal expected to be completed within the next 24 to 48 hours.
The 23-year-old is expected to sign a permanent deal with the League One side, ending the uncertainty over his future following his return from a loan spell at Ipswich.
Bakinson has been on the lookout for a new club throughout the summer having been forced to train with the Under-23s after falling out with manager Nigel Pearson. Ipswich had the option to sign him on a permanent basis but decided against making the move.
Bristol Live broke the news earlier this week that Wednesday were in talks with the Robins over the deal and it appears the transfer is close to completion. Yorkshire Live suggest an official announcement could be made before the weekend.
Wednesday manager Darren Moore was asked about the deal after last night's 2-0 pre-season friendly loss to Rayo Vallecano, in which he was reluctant to speak about players still under contract. He said "I won't talk about individuals.
"With players under contract, it is not the professional way to do it. They are not our players to talk about. I will let all you guys (the media) talk about all the speculation and that will be that."
Pearson was asked on Bakinson's future earlier in the summer in which he responded all parties were "trying to find a solution" as the player enters the final year of his contract. He initially joined up with the first-team squad for pre-season but was left out of the training camp in Austria.
He has also yet to feature in any pre-season matches including with the U23s but the switch to Moore's side would provide Bakinson with a fresh start in his career. He made 17 appearances for the Tractor Boys last season which included 14 starts.
Wednesday are aiming for promotion under Moore having fallen at the first hurdle in the play-offs last season and have already recruited seven new players. Bakinson will be the fifth player to leave City this summer after Callum O'Dowda, Kasey Palmer, Robbie Cundy and Taylor Moore.
City activated a one-year extension to his contract in November just days after he scored the winner against Stoke. Pearson would then praise Bakinson on his technical ability and said he "was happy to be here."
However, just two months later and the relationship deteriorated with Pearson publically hitting out at his attitude as he sealed his move to Ipswich. He said: "As far as I'm concerned, and I've said it before, if players don't want to be here they can go.
"I'm not bothered. He's a player who unfortunately just wants to play on his own terms. It's not something I particularly want so he can go.
"I'm not wasting energy on negativity, I don't invest time on that, I'm not just saying it. If you ask people who work with me they'll say exactly the same thing, I don't waste energy on negativity, it drives me mad.
"If people aren't in the side, I want them to work hard to get there and I want people who are in the side to work hard to stay there. I don't want people that when the going gets tough, they want to go somewhere else, I'm not interested."
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