By Mark Heys
March 12 2008

Former Bolton Wanderers and England front man Michael Ricketts could be about to sign for his tenth club in eight years if a trial spell with Championship side Southampton turns out to be successful.

The 29-year old is currently a free-agent having had his contract cancelled with Oldham Athletic in January and Saints manager Nigel Pearson wants a closer look at the one time Wanderers hero.

Ricketts scored 23 goals in  the Bolton side which secured promotion to the Premier League in the 2000-2001 season and he repeated that form in the following campaign with 15 goals in all competitions which lead to him winning his one and only England cap against Holland in February 2002.

He was put on the transfer list at his own request in December 2002 citing that he wanted to join a club that would win trophies and after much interest from Tottenham Hotspur it was quite a surprise that he joined Middlesbrough on the final day of the transfer deadline in January 2003.

Whilst with Boro he failed to be a success although he did net his first goal for the club on his return to the Reebok Stadium in May 2003 and later helped the Teesiders defeat Bolton in the 2004 Carling Cup Final but it was the Wanderers who had the last laugh.

Spells with Leeds United, Stoke City, Burnley, Cardiff City, Southend United, Preston North End, Oldham and first club Walsall have since followed and there is not many more avenues which the Birmingham-born attacker can now go down.