Champions Valletta have revived their interest in Michael Mifsud as they look to strengthen their forward line ahead of their commitments in the Champions League qualifying rounds.
The Citizens had the most potent attack in the BOV Premier League last season after scoring a total of 59 goals but Terrence Scerri’s one-year ban and the departure of Brazilian forward Andrade has left them with a shortage of strikers.
This has prompted club president Victor Sciriha to renew his bid to sign Mifsud.
The Malta striker was also a prime target for Valletta last season after his positive short-term spell with the club the previous term but negotiations failed to lead to an agreement. Mifsud, 30, eventually spent the second half of the season with Qormi.
With Mifsud now out of con-tract, Sciriha is known to have stepped up his efforts to lure the experienced striker who yester-day flew to Athens with the rest of the Malta squad ahead of Satur-day’s Euro 2012 Group F qualifier against Greece.
Sources have told The Times that Valletta are hopeful of tying up a deal for Mifsud by the middle of next week.
The champions are also expec-ting two foreign strikers to join them for a trial in the coming days.
The Citizens have already resumed training in preparation for their European campaign.
Coach Jesmond Zerafa is giving a trial to Ousseni Zongo who had left a good impression while playing for Msida St Joseph a few years back.
Valletta were also close to signing Rumen Galabov, who turned out for Marsaxlokk last season, but the deal appears to have fallen through. Galabov is also the subject of interest from Sliema Wanderers.
The Blues, who have already acquired Brazilian forward Jorge, this week signed midfielder Ryan Grech on a one-year deal.
Grech, who came through the Sliema nursery, began last season with Tarxien Rainbows before moving to Vittoriosa in January.
Danilo Doncic, the Sliema coach, is currently in Bulgaria to finalise preparations for the team’s 10-day training camp towards the end of July.
During his stay in the Balkan country, Doncic is expected to hold discussions with a Bulgarian player and sign up for the Pro Licence coaching course.