If I was a betting man, I’d say there was a wily old Fox at work here…

Having been round the block once too often with old Milan, Ferret's belief in the recent Howard stories is – unlike the weather – all a bit lukewarm.

I suspect there might have been a nibble, but little more.

Cos he doesn't really quite fit; height-wise, sure; target-man, yep… after that, however, and you begin to wonder.

Particularly on the value for money side; cos he won't come cheap – not when he's already on a nice, fat three-year deal at the Walkers after Mandaric and one of his managers last season saw the 32-year-old as the answer to their Championship prayers.

And having already been on a half-decent deal at Derby County, he's have got the same and more when he swapped one East Midlands club for another.

Now, however, and back down in League One for the first time in their history and that deal will be weighing pretty heavy on Milan's mind this summer… he doesn't want to be paying a 35-year-old those kinds of bucks… he wants the lad away.

And Roeder's gone public and said that he wants a target man; that's almost the last piece in his jigsaw.

Does he go for a 32-year-old with a transfer fee and a three-year contract already in tow? ?1.25 million-worth of transfer fee if the old Currant Bun is to be believed…

No, would be my best guess; that it is actually the Leicester end that is stoking those particular fires in the hope that can lighten their wage bill. And swiftly.

Nah. I suspect you put a toe in the water; see what's out there and how much it would actually cost – and then decide to sit tight and wait until the Ameobi price continues to drop.

OK, so the lad's got a big question mark about his hip; but he's still only 26 – in theory, he's coming to the peak of his powers… unlike Howard who may yet have had his lean and hungry years when he was at Luton.

No, if I was Ferret, I'd wait and wait until little Dennis was so sick and tired of having Ameobi's sulky face around the place that you got shot for as little as ?750,000… up-front, anyway. Spin it up to ?2.5 million or whatever with appearances and bonuses. All the usual.

Yes, he won't be cheap wages-wise, but the argument might be that you're better off feathering a 26-year-old's nest than a 32-year-old's – particularly one that comes with Milan's wily ways attached.