Nick Montgomery says free agents on par with Luke Amos are a 'rare' find as he runs the rule over the former Queens Park Rangers midfielder.

The 26-year-old, without a club since departing Loftus Road last summer, has earned a chance to impress the Hibs manager, and was pictured training at East Mains on Friday. Montgomery wanted to take Amos on last week's midseason training camp to Dubai, but the trip came too early. He first contacted the player earlier this month, and the experienced Englishman has now been drafted in for a trial period at HTC.

He could potentially become Montgomery's second signing of the January window, after Hertha BSC Myziane Maolida joined on-loan on Thursday evening. And he says Hibs will continue to be 'creative' in their search for re-enforcements.

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"You don’t play 150 games in the English Championship unless you’re a good player," said Montgomery of Amos. "I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago, we were going to take him to Dubai, but it was too soon.

"It’s rare that you find a player of that quality looking to get his career back on track. We’ll see how it goes on that one.  We need to be creative, keep looking for situations like Myziane. And one or two might go out, freeing up funds to bring players in."

Meanwhile, Montgomery feels recruit former Lyon prodigy Maolida is a 'statement' ahead of the second half of the season. Once coveted by Barcelona and Newcastle United, Maolida's career hit significant bumps at Nice and Hertha, and he was demoted to the 2. Bundesliga's B-team last year amid a fallout with manager Pal Dardai.

Montgomery was able to convince the 24-year-old that Hibs are his best bet for rejuvenating a promising career, and he is adamant Maolida arrives in Scotland feeling he has a point to prove.

"The reality is, Hibs don’t get a player of his ability, on the budget we have, unless he really wants to come and play for this club," said the manager. "He had a lot of options to go to clubs in England, France, Belgium. There was a lot of interest in him. But after I spoke to him and explained what I wanted from him, he decided to come here. He wants to get his career back on track.

“Right now he’s at the perfect stage, coming into a squad with French-speaking players, as well as Sérgio Raimundo, my assistant. And he speaks good English. He loves the game and will buy into the experience of playing for Hibs. For me, it’s a big statement that our first signing is someone of that quality.

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“Myziane is a player of real quality who can make an impact straight away. At 24 years old he's already had some big-money moves. Speaking to him before the loan happened, we had honest conversations – and he knows that everything was probably given to him a bit early. That’s happened many times in football.

“Maybe at times he didn’t really grasp the opportunity of what he had. Now he’s really hungry to get his career back on track. And for us to be able to attract a player like that speaks volumes for the club and the fan base. 

“We’ll provide him with a platform to impress. He’s really talented, can play anywhere across the front four and is a real athlete. He’s been playing games in Hertha's B team and scored some big goals in the Comoros international team lately. What he needs now is intense training sessions with the team. We’ll use the next couple of weeks to build him up to full fitness. And I’m sure he can make an impact on the team."