Derby County and Preston North End are monitoring the situation of Luton Town striker James Collins as his contract at Kenilworth Road is set to expire, per Mike McGrath of The Telegraph.

30-year-old Collins signed for the Hatters in 2016 following a prolific season in League Two with Crawley Town, where he scored 20 goals.

Collins continued his goalscoring form for Luton and helped them to back-to-back promotions, scoring 44 times in 86 outings to get the Hatters to the Championship.

The goals didn't stop flowing then, as last season the striker netted 14 times in a successful first season back in the second tier for the club.

His Luton form led to a first call-up for the Republic of Ireland in 2019, and just this week he scored his second goal for the country in a 3-2 loss to Serbia.

Collins has only hit the back of the net seven times for Luton this season in 33 games, but one of the clubs linked to him in North End know all about him - he netted a hat-trick against them in December and forced Daniel Iversen into an own goal in their reverse fixture at Deepdale last week.

PNE aren't the only club said to be interested though, with Derby County also looking at a move for Collins as their permanent senior striker options are limited to just Colin Kazim-Richards and Martyn Waghorn.

Collins is also getting attention from across the Atlantic Ocean in Major League Soccer though, so it looks like the two-goal Ireland striker will have a lot to think about in the next few months.

The Verdict

Collins would be a smart pick-up for both North End and the Rams - although he's at a team currently that are doing better than both of the interested parties this season.

Sometimes though a change of scenery is wanted, and at the age of 30 this might be Collins' best chance yet to earn a bigger pay-day.

PNE and Derby, as well as some MLS clubs, will probably be able to give Collins wages he wants if they're seriously interested and in his peak years he could add an additional goal threat to two Championship teams who have lacked goals from their strikers this season.