Town boss George Burley has said the mystery midfielder he is hoping to sign this week is a Premiership player. This adds to the speculation that the player is Hassan Kachloul and rules out a number of others.

Burley said: "I am not prepared to get involved in the speculation that has been going on. I have seen at leat six or seven names mentioned. All I am prepared to say is that he is a Premier League player and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can do something."

Jason Koumas, Hamed Kavianpour, Marc Nygaard, Jon Dahl Tomasson and this morning's latest link, Norwegian Morten Berre from Stavanager, all play outside the Premiership and can be discounted for at least this deal.

Kachloul's management are reported to be talking to four clubs with Town, Villa and now apparently Celtic and Derby the interested parties. Rams manager Jim Smith confirmed his interest in the Moroccan: "We are in contact with his representatives. He would give us something extra in midfield but there is a long way to go on this one and other clubs are interested."

If the player is Kachloul then Town could face quite a battle to land him at this the third attempt.

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