Lee Erwin: Kilmarnock man close to joining John Toshack's Tractor Sazi in Iran
- Published
Lee Erwin (right) has been with Killie for 13 months and scored eight goals in 44 appearances
Kilmarnock forward Lee Erwin is poised to join John Toshack's Tractor Sazi in Iran's top flight.
The former Wales manager has already recruited midfielder Harry Forrester from Rangers and former Celtic and Hibernian striker Anthony Stokes.
Now Killie manager Steve Clarke has revealed Erwin, 23, is keen to join the two ex-Premiership players in Iran.
"It's possible. He wants to go and is in discussions with the club," said the former West Ham and Reading boss.
"It is a large wage increase for him and, if everything goes the way we think it will go, he will leave us and go to Iran.
"He started the last game for us and three of the four League Cup games, so he was in the plans for the season.
"I am not going to stand in the way of someone who wants to leave the club because they have been offered a really good contract somewhere else.
"So we have to deal with that and look to find a replacement if I can, but I think I have replacements in the building.
"Greg Kiltie, not on the pitch last week, can play that position; Mikael Ndjoli, Eamonn Brophy can play as a second striker, so we have plenty of cover in the building."
Goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann has joined Killie on a season-long loan from Watford and the Austrian says he feels "comfortable already", having previously had an unhappy spell at Ross County in 2015.
"I signed on a six-month loan and I don't know if you have been to the Highlands, to Inverness or Dingwall - I just didn't have a great time there, I didn't enjoy myself," Bachmann explained.
"It wasn't just the football side, it was the whole situation, so we just cancelled it. I think it is nice for maybe a weekend or three days.
"I can't really explain why. I was there on my own and it wasn't good for my head. I didn't feel comfortable at all.
"This is completely different, three or four hours south of where I was and near to Glasgow."