DEAN Holdsworth could be set to team up again with his old Wimbledon boss Joe Kinnear this summer.

Now in charge at Luton Town, who have just secured promotion from Division Three, Kinnear claims to have spoken to Holdsworth and that the Reebok favourite "wants to join the Hatters".

"I'm talking to people at the moment and Dean is one of them," he is widely quoted as saying. "He wants to come and we'll try to come to an agreement."

It was Kinnear who, as manager of Wimbledon, sold Holdsworth for £3.5 million - still a Wanderers' transfer record - in September 1997. Now he apparently sees the 33-year-old striker as an experienced front runner who can help Luton make the step up to the Second Division.

Whether he can afford him is another matter.

Holdsworth was not available to comment on the latest reports today but he previously described speculation linking him with Luton as "pure speculation from journalists who are putting two and two together and coming up with five."

He added: "Having been out of contention for a while at Bolton and with Hatters boss Joe Kinnear being my former manager at Wimbledon, there would appear some logic in me returning south to be re-united with him.

"However, I want to go on record now as saying that I am a Premiership player and hope to remain that way next season with Bolton Wanderers. Although I'm 33, I still feel I have plenty to offer at this level. I'm feeling good about myself and looking forward to steering the club away from danger.

Holdsworth still has more than a year to run on the contract he signed last summer. But opportunities have been limited this season in which 21 of his 33 first team appearances have come as substitute and his name is understood to have been one of those players Sam Allardyce suggested he would consider selling when he circulated a list of names to other clubs earlier this year.

Walthamstow-born Holdsworth has frequently been touted for a return to the family home in the south. But he has repeatedly assured Wanderers that he is happy with the understanding he has with Allardyce, which allows him flexibility in his domestic arrangements.