Caley Thistle midfielder Greg Tansey has turned down a new contract offer and seems certain to leave the Highlanders at the end of the season.
The Englishman, who is in his second spell with Inverness after rejoining from Stevenage in January 2014, is out of contract at the end of the season and manager Richie Foran had made a contract extension for the 28-year-old one of his riorities.
Tansey, who came close to moving to Premiership rivals Aberdeen in a £200,000 deal in January, will not sign a new contract and Foran is all but resigned to the likelihood he will leave in the summer.
Foran said: “Greg is not going to sign a contract extension at the moment. He’s going to concentrate on his football. That’s obviously a little bit disappointing.
“I had a long chat with him and told him I made the mistake of leaving a club where I was really enjoying my football, at Motherwell. If I had the chance to change it I wouldn’t have left, but he’s not willing to sign at the moment.
“I’d say it’s probably 80% certain he will leave at the end of the season. We still have hope, who knows what can happen and he could change his mind over the next few months.
“Nothing changes in terms of me and him and the team. He has been fantastic for us and he will continue to be fantastic for us, but it’s looking like he will probably move on at the end of the season.”
Foran hopes for a more positive outcome from his talks with defender Josh Meekings, who wants to take more time before making a decision.
Foran added: “Josh needs a couple of more weeks to think about it. He will get a break with everyone else in January and he can clear his head and we will have an answer from Josh come mid-Janaury.
“Every player can be replaced, players, coaches, myself, directors or the chairman. Finding the replacements is the hard part but we will see what happens with Josh in January.”
Inverness are searching for their first win since October when they face Motherwell at Caledonian Stadium tonight, but Foran reckons his side is getting closer to ending its poor run.
He added: “I do believe we are going to punish a team sooner rather than later, playing like we are. We are brave and getting on the ball, but off the ball we have been better. A lot of people won’t see that.”