David Healy is on the verge of completing another hat-trick for former Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez.

After netting trebles against Spain and Liechtenstein during Sanchez’s reign as international manager, Healy is about to become the third Northern Ireland player to join up with his old boss at Fulham.

Midfielder Steve Davis yesterday completed a £4million move to the London club, signing a four-year deal.

He follows international captain Aaron Hughes from Aston Villa to Craven Cottage after he put pen to paper on a three-year contract last week,

With that deal completed, Sanchez will now turn his attention to sealing the signature of Northern Ireland’s record goalscorer.

He has been tracking Healy for some time, but the move was delayed while Leeds United wait to come out of administration.

The 28-day period for the club’s Company Voluntary Agreement to be formalised expired on Tuesday afternoon, but the Inland Revenue lodged an appeal against the offer to creditors, leaving uncertainty surrounding the club’s transfer status.

Yesterday, however, Leeds sold their former captain Kevin Nicholls to Preston and that leaves the door open for Sanchez to tie up a move for Healy, which is expected to be worth £1million.

Leeds are due in Dublin tomorrow night for their first pre-season friendly of the summer against Shelbourne, but it remains to be seen if Healy is in the squad for that trip, or even if he’s still a Leeds player by then.