NI's Lafferty joins Linfield for rest of season

Kyle Lafferty ended his second spell at Kilmarnock on transfer deadline day last week

Much-travelled NI striker Kyle Lafferty has joined Irish Premiership champions Linfield until the end of the season.

Fermanagh man Lafferty was released on transfer deadline day last week by Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock.

The club careers of Lafferty and Healy also included them playing together for Rangers in the 2011-12 season.

Lafferty becomes the second current Northern Ireland international to join an Irish Premiership club in five weeks following Niall McGinn's move to Glentoran on 3 January.

Linfield, under Healy, have won the last four Irish Premiership titles and they sit third in this year's tight race for the Gibson Cup, four points behind leaders Cliftonville.

Following Lafferty's departure from Kilmarnock, manager Derek McInnes said the decision had been "sprung" on him by the club's board.

"All I can say is, it wasn't something that I wanted to happen," said McInnes.

Lafferty, who has scored 20 goals in 89 Northern Ireland appearances, had returned to action for Kilmarnock last month following a 10-game ban because of a sectarian comment he made while on international duty.

After his 10-game suspension, Lafferty, who helped Kilmarnock earn promotion back to the Scottish Premiership last season, returned for the League Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic but then did not start the club's two next league games before being released.

Following his ban, Lafferty committed to working with an anti-sectarian charity.

The 35-year-old - who returned to Rugby Park for a second spell a year ago - scored three goals in 17 games this season.

The Enniskillen-born striker joined Burnley as a 17-year-old in 2005 and his career has included two stints at Rangers and spells at Norwich, Hearts and Sunderland in addition to numerous overseas moves which included playing in Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Norway and Cyprus.

After having played for Palermo in the 2013-14 season, Lafferty was back in Italy at the start of the 2020-21 campaign when he signed for Reggina but then moved to Kilmarnock early in 2021 before returning for a second spell with the Rugby Park club following a brief spell with Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta.