Brentford boss Andy Scott is reportedly in talks with Ipswich Town over the possibility of taking centre-back Pim Balkestein on loan with a view to a permanent deal.
Balkestein enjoyed an eight match loan spell at Griffin Park before being recalled to Portman Road, with New Zealand international Tommy Smith heading in the opposite direction.
Smith returned to the Tractor Boys last week and boss Roy Keane is reluctant to let the 19-year-old go back out on loan, leaving Balkestein - his Dutch team mate - as an obvious target.
The 22-year-old could be rushed into the Bees squad to face Stockport County with Alan Bennett suspended, while Leon Legge and Mark Phillips are struggling with injury.
“We’ve just had an offer for Pim about 10 minutes ago and we’ll give you more information on that in the next couple of days,” said Keane.
“It’s just come in, I haven’t even spoken to Pim about it, so we’ll see what happens. Obviously with Tommy Smith coming back we’re OK in terms of numbers, but we’ll see in the next 24 or 48 hours."
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