Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire will find out this week whether they have been successful in their pursuit of Scotland and Wigan Athletic forward Shaun Maloney, sources have told ESPN FC.
The interest from Chicago was first registered last November, with 31-year-old Maloney interested in exploring the possibility of making a move to America's MLS, even though he is believed to have expressed a preference to return to a Premier League club if possible.
Leicester City had a bid for the player rejected last week and Wigan are currently mulling over a fresh offer submitted by the Premier League strugglers in recent days, with Maloney certain to make a move this month as he will be out of contract an the end of this season.
Maloney's former club Celtic are also interested in re-signing the attacking star, with manager Ronny Deila confirming he would like to sign the former Aston Villa star this month.
"He is a good player and is one we know about," Celtic boss Deila told reporters when asked about Maloney last week. "He is at Wigan at the moment but we will wait and see. I have seen him many times. He is a quick, creative player and is a very good person with a great mentality. He looks like a Celtic player."
Wigan boss Malky Mackay has confirmed Maloney is the subject of plenty of transfer interest, as the club prepares to say farewell one of the stars of their 2013 FA Cup final triumph against Manchester City.
"There is serious interest in him from a few clubs," Mackay said. "If it is something that suits Shaun and suits ourselves, then it is something that we can deal with and it is something that might happen."
ESPN FC has been told that Maloney is open minded about the scramble for his services and would relish the chance to move to Chicago, who are believed to have made the most attractive financial offer to Wigan for his services.