Hibs transfer news: Deal for Scotland striker Dykes nears completion as Deadline Day cut-off looms
Former QPR star is eager to get regular game time ahead of World Cup qualifying campaign
Hibs are closing in on a Deadline Day deal for Lyndon Dykes as the 11 pm cut-off approaches. And the Easter Road side will have until midnight to complete all paperwork, once the one-year loan agreement with Birmingham City – still being hammered out at the fine detail stage – has been completed.
Hibs boss David Gray has been chasing Dykes as an ideal addition to his forward division and, with Elie Youan still potentially on his way out of Easter Road, sees him as a potentially significant impact signing. The 29-year-old striker is eager to join fellow Scotland regular Grant Hanley, who signed for Hibs last month, at a team with ambitions to compete at the business end of the Scottish Premiership this season.
Dykes has been limited to appearances from the bench for Birmingham so far this season, although he did score a dramatic injury-time winner for the Blues against Blackburn. But simply proving his fitness was enough to earn the Aussie-born centre forward a recall to the Scotland squad for their opening World Cup qualifiers against Denmark and Belarus.
A Steve Clarke favourite who has won 42 caps for his adopted homeland, Dykes is in direct competition for Scotland game time with 22-year-old phenomenon Kieron Bowie. And now it looks as if the pair will be battling for minutes in a Hibs jersey, as well.
Gray is understood to view Dykes as a player who can help ease the physical burden on young superstar Bowie, allowing Hibs to use their prized asset – tipped to add to his single cap in the qualifying doubleheader kicking off in Copenhagen on Friday – more judiciously in a forward corps that also includes Thibault Klidje and Socceroos star Martin Boyle. But Gray is also more than open to the idea of putting the Scotland pair together in a dynamic duo at the top of the park, feeling that Bowie would get more space to show other elements of his game if partnered with Dykes.
Bowie, who hopes to win a first start for Scotland after getting 12 minutes in the summer friendly win over Liechtenstein, and Boyle are the established front pairing in Gray’s set-up. Klidje has impressed after taking a few weeks to settle following his £1.5 million move from Swiss club Luzern.
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