he made his name.

The Bermudian striker first came to prominence at Walsall and was a crowd favourite in the Midlands before moving to Premiership neighbours Coventry City for 500,000 in 1997.

However, he never made an impact at Highfield Road and was transferred to Stoke City for a fee in the region of 400,000.

He was put on the transfer list by the Potteries club just before Christmas and is currently on loan at Third Division Cardiff City having returned from a similar stint at Swindon Town.

The Welsh side have taken him with a view to a permanent move if he impresses during his month's stay and a fee around 100,000 is being talked about in the media.

However, prior to joining the Bluebirds Lightbourne said he would certainly consider a move back to Walsall, who are currently pushing for promotion from the Second Division.

"If Walsall did come in for me I would be interested, but Stoke do want a fee for me,'' he said. "I had a very good time when I was at the club previously.'' Lightbourne has been the subject of transfer talk with the Saddlers previously, but boss Ray Graydon denied an approach was in the offing.

"I have not discussed Kyle Lightbourne in the last month,'' he said.

Cardiff, meanwhile, riding high at the top of the league, are set to continue their spending spree up to the March transfer deadline -- a date that coincides with the end of Lightbourne's stay at Ninian Park.

Alan Cork, who handles the running of the team with former Wales' national boss Bobby Gould, has said that former Wimbledon chairman Sam Hamman is prepared to add to the 2.5-million the club has already spent this season.

"We are in the fortunate position where we can afford to buy more players,'' he said. "It's the first time in the history of the club that someone has put their hand in their pocket to do the job properly.

"There's no point coming all this way and failing. I'm looking to bring in more players before the transfer deadline.'' Whether Lightbourne is one of those players remains to be seen. He will get his first opportunity to show what he can do when Cardiff play Kidderminster Harriers on Sunday.

Kyle Lightbourne