Andy Murray has been in confidential talks with the Lawn Tennis Association about them staging a bespoke new tournament early this summer, specifically designed to accommodate his planned comeback.

And the frontrunner to host his eagerly-anticipated return is the perhaps unlikely venue of Loughborough University's indoor hard courts.

This week the twice Wimbledon champion's management company, 77, gave an upbeat briefing about Murray's fitness. The expectation is that he will be able to return to on-court practice later this month after undergoing hip surgery in early January.

Andy Murray has held talks with the LTA about possibly holding a new tournament this summer

There was also the somewhat cryptic hint that, providing all goes well on his return to training, he might return before the grass court season, which was initially his publicly-stated target.

It now appears that this could well involve an extra tournament being put on primarily for his benefit during the first week of the French Open in late May at Challenger level, the tier of event which is below that of the main ATP Tour.

Murray's problem is that around the time of when he thinks he will be ready to return it is the height of the clay court season, a surface he would want to avoid as it is the most demanding for him to move on, and also the most different to grass.

The nearest thing that might look suitable is an obscure hard court Challenger in South Korea, which would mean him travelling there in the early part of May. Also, the ATP Tour is very much against a star player making a comeback away from one of its mainstream events going on elsewhere.

However, the calendar is cleared during a Grand Slam such as Paris, which starts on May 27, and he would be free to come back at a minor tournament without objection.

Well-placed sources have told Sportsmail that this is what has been discussed, and talks are at a relatively advanced stage. It would be the first time he has played an event at Challenger level since late 2005.

Although the prize money that the LTA would have to put up could be as low as £39,000 – with obvious paying spectator interest – it would require some generosity for the governing body, as these kind of events are notoriously difficult to break even on with all the associated staging costs.

Loughborough University's indoor hard courts, pictured last year during the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, could host the potential new Challenger level tournament early this summer

There is also no umbrella sponsor at present for these kind of tournaments in the UK, with Aegon having not renewed their support when it expired at the end of 2017.

However, it is possible to add Challenger events to the calendar at relatively short notice, and the governing body will see it as a strong curtain-raiser for the grass court tournaments that follow in the build-up to Wimbledon. Going from indoor hard courts onto the turf is a relatively straightforward transition.

In addition it would be a way of supporting a player who has been such a boon to the British game and remains its star asset, even though he will be replaced as GB men's number one on Monday by the ascending Kyle Edmund.

Loughborough is in the frame because it has good infrastructure in place to host events and is a well-established venue.

It staged a Futures level event only last month and in December housed the NEC Wheelchair Masters, a major happening in that form of the game.

Any plans remain dependent on Murray's return to full fitness going to plan, which he is reluctant to put a timetable on. But that such things are under discussion reinforces the idea that he is very confident that a first appearance since last summer's Wimbledon is only a matter of time.