Ex-£4m Sunderland and Leeds United midfielder could sign for Blackpool despite 'issues'

The 33-year-old, who has also played for Leeds and Brighton, is a free agent after leaving Lincoln at the end of last season.

Bridcutt worked with Blackpool boss Michael Appleton at Lincoln, while The Seasiders are still looking to bolster their midfield options after missing out on a deal to sign former Chelsea player Danny Drinkwater.

“He’s a top talent,” Appleton said. “He did brilliantly for me at Lincoln and he’s obviously someone I’ve admired in the past.

“He’s in a good place, although he’s way behind the other players in terms of fitness levels because he’s been doing a lot of stuff on his own because he had an injury at the back end of last season.

“He’s enjoyed it, the players have enjoyed having him around as have the staff, so let’s see how the next couple of weeks progress.

“There’s no timeline from us, there’s no timeline from him. It’s just an opportunity for both parties to have a look at each other and see how they feel.”

However, Bridcutt was limited to just 14 appearances for Lincoln City owing to injury last season as the club struggled in League One.

“He’s had his issues over the past,” Appleton admitted.

“But he’s still had a decent amount of game time over the past few seasons and I think he’s the type of player you have to accept will pick up injuries because of the way he plays.

“He’s not shy, he likes to tackle, he likes to go to ground, put his foot in and mix it with people, so he’s likely to get his fair share of injuries.

“But he’s come in the last week or so, trained well, really getting up to speed with the pace of training and he looks fit, as he always does.”

Back in 2014 and after weeks of speculation, Bridcutt signed for Sunderland an undisclosed fee believed to be between £3million and £4million but struggled to cement a regular spot and subsequently moved to Leeds United and then Lincoln.