Former Liverpool star Steve Nicol admits he tried to sign Kris Boyd when he was coach of New England Revolution last year.
The 28-year old former Rangers and Middlesbrough striker has emerged as a transfer target for Houston Dynamo this week but Nicol says he wanted him in MLS last year before his ill-fated move to Turkish club Eskisehirspor.
"You never know how close these things are but we felt we had a real chance of signing him. Middlesbrough gave us permission to speak to Kris as they were trying to move him on. We couldn't quite come to an agreement, he ended up going to Turkey.
"I was in no doubt that Kris would score a lot of goals over here. No doubt whatsoever.
"There isn't a finisher in the league like him, with the possible exception of (Robbie) Keane. Boyd isn't as good as Keane in his general play but he can put the ball in the net as well as him.
"I haven't spoken to (Houston coach) Dominic (Kinnear) about him. We're mates but we don't speak about players like that. You don't hear Sir Alex Ferguson on the phone to Harry Redknapp to discuss his targets!
"But if Dominic did phone me, I'd tell him that Kris would definitely score goals here.""I tried to sign Kris last year. Before he went to Turkey, we were in talks with his agent about him coming over here," he told SunSport.