Just a few days into the new season and Perpignan are already planning their 2011/12 campaign, hinting that they could have Wales international James Hook on their books within a couple of weeks - but will he want to wear the most cursed shirt in French rugby?

French rugby paper Midi Olympique claims that the 26-year-old has already come to an arrangement with the Catalan club for a three-year deal worth an estimated €350,000 a season.

Previous attempts by Perpignan to sign the player have been hampered by Hook's contract with the Ospreys, but that contract expires a the end of the season and leaves him free to make the move to the South of France.

According to the report, the move would guarantee Hook the outside-half slot that he has lost at both the Ospreys and with Wales, for whom he has won 33 caps.

The fly-half in Hook's ointment could be the return of Dan Carter. Carter joined USAP during their 2008/09 championship-winning season, but only played five matches before injury ruled him out of the campaign.

He returned to New Zealand ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup but has hinted that he would like to return to France once the tournament is over. USAP could expect to have first refusal on the 73-times-capped All Black, but that would surely mean Hook moving back into the centre.

USAP' fly-half curse

Quite why Hook would want to don the most cursed shirt in French rugby is beyond us. Even before Carter's French experience was curtailed by an Achilles tendon injury in February 2009, a succession of USAP outside halves have picked up season-ending injuries.

Nicolas Laharrague, for instance, has probably got his own bed in the Aimé-Giral infirmerie. The Perpignan stalwart's form was giving Carter food for thought before the kiwi arrived in autumn 2008, only for a shoulder injury to put him out of action before he could even lose his place fairly to the All Black legend.

After Carter was ruled out, Gavin Hume stepped up from centre to play outside-half as the club's third-choice No.10, Steve Meyer, was also injured. It was easy to forget that South African Meyer was in Perpignan at all - in four seasons with USAP he played just 37 times, finally quitting France altogether in February of this year. But Meyer's agony wasn't over - just four games into his return with Natal, another serious knee injury put him out of the Currie Cup and could spell the end of his stop-start career.

Laharrague's 2009/10 was blighted by injury, as the Perpignan veteran tore a calf muscle in December, damaged a knee in February and broke his hand in March. He did make a late appearance in USAP's final defeat, but a serious injury suffered in pre-season traning in July put him out of action for at least three months.

Club president Paul Goze called up former USAP favourite Manny Edmonds to fill the void as a 'medical joker', a late transfer permitted by the league in the case of long-term injuries to first-team players. Aussie Edmonds, having recently left Bayonne and apparently gone into retirement, accepted the offer to end his French career where it had started in 2002.

But 24 hours before the opening fixture against Clermont, Edmonds tore a calf muscle in training and will be out of action for three weeks.

In came David Melé, scrum-half by trade but an experienced stand-off, having covered at outside-half for Perpignan during his four years with the club.

It was all going well until, an hour into the match, Melé suffered a serious knee injury - a possible dislocation, according to the club - and had to be replaced by centre Maxime Mermoz. Melé is expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks.

Where does that leave Perpignan? Regular emergency five-eighth Hume is out for at least four more weeks with an injury to his big toe, meaning the likely candidate for the No.10 shirt is Gilles Bosch. The France Under-20 international only has 28 minutes' experience of top-flight rugby behind him, but the 20-year-old may have to make the step up for USAP's next four matches away to Brive, at home to Montpellier and Biarritz and away again at Agen.

We'll be watching from behind the sofa...