Manchester United striker Federico Macheda will not be joining Blackpool or Hull City in January and is instead likely to make a loan move to Spain or Germany.
The 21-year-old has made just three substitute appearances in all competitions this season amid the strong attacking options from which boss Sir Alex Ferguson can select.
United have preferred to use Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez which has meant Macheda is likely to leave on another temporary deal.
Blackpool and Hull have both been linked with the former Sampdoria and Queens Park Rangers loanee but his agent has revealed Germany or Spain are more likely destinations.
Macheda's representative, Giovanni Bia, told claciomercato.it: "Federico obviously wants to play more and also Manchester United agree to let him go.
"Blackpool and Hull City? No, he definitely won't go to one of them. We're talking with two or three clubs in Spain and German, which I don't want to name."
The Highlanders had failed to win any of their first seven Clydesdale Bank Premier League games and were languishing second-bottom when Dundee United visited Tulloch Caledonian Stadium at the end of September.
A shock 4-0 win for the home side, thanks to a first-half double by skipper Richie Foran and goals after the break by Andrew Shinnie and Philip Roberts, stopped the rot.
Inverness have since lost only one game in 16 and, as well as climbing to second in the SPL behind Celtic, have booked a Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final clash against Hearts and reached the latter stages of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
Butcher recalls the day when his side's fortunes turned.
He said: "Dundee United started off the game pretty well and for the first half an hour it was nip and tuck and then all of a sudden Richie scored two goals that have us a good half-time lead and we were able to build on that in the second half and run out 4-0 winners.
"We actually played well in the first seven games and had five points but hadn't had a win.
"We played well in some of those draws and were unlucky not to get the first victory but when the first win did come against United it certainly lifted everybody.
"It made everybody more confident, we had more belief and we knew that we were on the right track.
"We had a couple of wins right away after that and we zoomed up the table and we haven't looked back since then.
"So it might have been the turning point, the spark that we needed, but it was certainly welcome.
"It is nice to be able to play them again and it does whet the appetite."
Butcher, who has no fresh injuries following the win over the Staggies, is looking to give his far-travelled fans more to cheer about with another win.
The former Motherwell boss said: "I have a good relationship with my away fans and I am looking forward to seeing them because they are just phenomenal.
"They are so noisy and get behind the team.
"Man for man, I don't think there is a noisier away crowd so we are really pleased with the support we get from the away fans and it has been nice to reward them with some good away victories and points."
But Hammell hopes pushing for another European adventure could help retain some of the players who are out of contract at the end of the season.
Motherwell were denied a fifth-round trip to face Hibernian at Easter Road, where they play tomorrow on Clydesdale Bank Premier League duty, and the chance to emulate their run to the final in 2011 when they lost 2-1 in a Fir Park replay on Tuesday.
The financial blow has given manager Stuart McCall less chance of holding on to the likes of Nicky Law, Darren Randolph and Jamie Murphy in the long term.
Hammell said: "I don't think it heaped pressure on us but we were aware of it.
"It's well documented, the gaffer even came out and said it, a cup run would help financially to keep some of the boys.
"I think that was another reason why it was disappointing to go out the cup, because I think this will be the last season that this group of players will be together.
"It's a strong group, one of the best teams I've played with, and at the end of this season, or maybe even sooner, that team might not be together, so it would have been nice to finish with a trip to Hampden. But it wasn't to be.
"I'm sure there will be some offers because of how well we have been doing, that's just the nature of how things are.
"If teams come looking from England, they will be able to offer bigger financial rewards.
"It will be a sad day if we lose a lot of these boys but hopefully we can keep most of the squad together and the gaffer has been able to bring in some real gems before."
Murphy turned down a move to Blackpool on the last day of this year's January transfer window in order to help Motherwell secure third place in the SPL and the Champions League qualifying spot that came with it.
And Hammell hopes a similar push can lift the gloom of the cup defeat.
"Hopefully the boys will not rush into any decisions in January, a lot of the deals usually take place at the last minute," he said.
"If they can stay at least until the end of the season, that would be a great boost for everyone.
"We've got to put that disappointment behind us now and look to bounce back against Hibs.
"There are European places up for grabs and we are confident we can show everyone we deserve to be there.
"We would like to get there and put the disappointment of going out the cup early behind us."
