LINFIELD have swooped for Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty, signing the 35-year-old until the end of the season.
It sees Blues boss David Healy reunited with his former international team-mate, and Lafferty’s capture will give Linfield’s hopes of retaining the Gibson Cup a major boost in the second half of the campaign.
They currently occupy third spot, four points behind league leader Cliftonville, with the pair coming head to head in a crunch clash at Windsor Park on Saturday.
The deal for Lafferty – who has scored 20 goals in 85 international caps – comes just a week after he left Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock.
Lafferty had only recently returned to action following a 10-game ban because of a sectarian comment made while on international duty with Northern Ireland back in September. Following his ban, Lafferty committed to working with an anti-sectarian charity.
Since returning to Rugby Park for a second spell a year ago, the Kesh man scored three goals in 17 games this term.
And his exit came as a surprise to boss Derek McInnes
"All I can say is, it wasn't something that I wanted to happen," said the former Scotland international.
"It was a conversation between the board and Kyle [Lafferty]. I don't want to say any more.
"We were trying to bring forward players in and it's left us really short so we're disappointed that's the outcome. It was between the club and Kyle and unfortunately for us, Kyle has left."
