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PADDY McCOURT may join hometown club Derry City for the second half of the season.
McCourt yesterday parted company with Luton Town where he has 12 months to run on his contract.
The winger is returning home for personal reasons which also ruled him out of consideration for Northern Ireland’s Euro 2016 squad.
With his elder brother Harry on the club’s board, they are fully aware of his circumstances and know football will take a back seat for the 32-year-old in the coming weeks.
They have no immediate plans to approach him about rejoining the club for which he played prior to a move to Celtic in 2008.
But, if he is in a position to resume his career in the coming months, it is hoped he may agree to join Kenny Shiels’ squad.
If he does, it is likely he would stay only until the end of the current campaign as a move to the USA is on the cards.McCourt began his career at Rochdale.
After being called into a Republic of Ireland Under-21 squad, he was handed a senior Northern Ireland cap at the age of 18 in 2002.
But he had to wait almost seven years for his second appearance.
In the meantime, his career in England stalled but he impressed during a short stint at Shamrock Rovers, which prompted Stephen Kenny to bring him to the Brandywell.
After three years there, he turned down interest from West Bromwich Albion to sign for Celtic.
He became a cult hero at Parkhead for his stunning solo goals but struggled to keep fit while in Scotland.
In 2013, he left Glasgow and had stints with Barnsley, Brighton and Notts County before joining Luton in a two-year contract last summer.
He won the most recent of his 17 caps against Latvia in November and has scored twice.
He was a marginal call to make Michael O’Neill’s 23-man squad before telling him he would not be in a position to travel
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