MORTON boss Jim Duffy is keen to sign Luca Gasparotto on a permanent basis and has also spoken to his loan stars and their parent clubs about the possibility of returning next season.

The Ton successfully utilised the temporary transfer market last term by bringing in top scorer Denny Johnstone, Alex Samuel, Declan McManus, Paul McMullan, and Gasparotto.

All five returned to their employers at the end of the Championship campaign, and although Duffy has already broached the subject of new loan deals, he admits it will be a waiting game.

When asked by the Tele if there was a possibility of any of the players coming to Cappielow again next term, he said: “We’ve spoken to all the parent clubs, the players and their representatives.

“But at the end of the day, the players have to go back to their parent clubs at the end of the season first and foremost.

“From Rangers’ point of view, Luca has been released, but from Celtic’s point of view, a new manager is coming in and I’m guessing he’ll want to take time and have a look at everybody.

“In Wales, Swansea might have a new manager coming in. You don’t know about the situation there but I’ve spoken to them.

“Denny and Declan will go back to their clubs in England - I spoke to [Fleetwood Town manager] Steven Pressley the other day there - and they are going to take them back in and assess them.

“I think they’ll also look at their squads and see who they bring in and what kind of direction they want to go in, all those kind of things, before they make any decisions.

“So I suppose in answer to the question, there’s always a chance they could come back, but it’s not something we’ll find out in the next couple of weeks.

“Their league seasons have just finished and they don’t start back to a lot later, so any decision on them would be unlikely to be made in the foreseeable future. Our season could be started by then.”

Canadian centre-half Gasparotto was one of eight Rangers academy graduates allowed to leave Ibrox upon the expiry of their contracts last week. The Tele understands there are Scottish Premiership clubs interested in the 21-year-old defender, but Duffy, too, would be eager to capture his signature.

He added: “Again, I’ve spoken to Luca and spoken to his agents and we’ve said we’d be keen for him to stay.

“But he went back to Canada on the Monday after the end of the season and they are just going to see what is available to them after leaving Rangers.

“That’s fine. It’s a choice they have to make, but they know our views on it and Luca told us that he loved it and really enjoyed playing week in, week out.

“But I think how well he played for us has alerted one or two other clubs and that’s sometimes the downside of it, that we’ve actually given players a platform to play and they have done well. When they have done well for us, what that has done is shown people that they can play at this level, that they can play against clubs of the stature of Hibs and Rangers and not look out of place.

“And that has made other clubs sit up and take notice, bigger clubs with bigger finances, and sometimes that can be difficult.

“But it’s not a definite ‘no’ yet. Luca has just left to go back to Canada for his break so we’ll see what happens.

“You can never tell. 

“Sometimes they go home and speak to their families and say: ‘I really liked it there. I was happy there.’

“These things can be important, there’s no doubt about it, but it might be important if there’s say a £50 a week difference, but not if there’s a £500 a week difference.”