Watford are ready to make a move for Hibs defender Ryan Porteous.
The Scotland cap could sign for the Championship side on a pre-contract agreement this month.
Reporter Alan Nixon states that the defender has been tracked by the Hornets, along with other English clubs, in recent months.
The centre-back recently made it known that he intends to leave Hibs at the end of his contract next summer.
As a result, Lee Johnson admitted that the Easter Road club would look to try and sell Porteous in the January window.
It's been said that while Watford would prefer to wait until the summer to take Porteous for nothing, they would be able to negotiate a small fee with Hibs to take him in the coming weeks.
Hull City are also among the interested Championship clubs taking note of Porteous' situation.
Should Porteous leave in January, Hibs are keen on Burnley defender Kevin Long as a replacement. Aberdeen are also keen on the experienced centre-back.
Meanwhile, the SPFL is preparing to welcome full crowds to its New Year derbies for the first time in three years - with around 100,000 supporters set to attend games across the country.
The league matches taking place on Monday 2 January will be the first to have been played with no pandemic restrictions on festive attendances since season 2019/20.
In season 2021/22, the introduction of fresh restrictions led to cinch Premiership matches across 2/3 January being postponed until later in the month, while cinch Championship, cinch League 1 and cinch League 2 games were only allowed a limit of 500 fans.
Covid guidelines also previously meant the New Year fixtures were played in empty stadiums in season 2020/21.
Matches taking place on January 2 2023 include Rangers v Celtic at Ibrox at 12.30pm, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
All other matches that day kick off at 3pm and include the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle, and St Johnstone taking on local rivals Dundee United at McDiarmid Park.
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