Ducati Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti has confirmed the factory is in advanced talks with MotoGP exile Alvaro Bautista.

Currently, neither Chaz Davies nor Marco Melandri have put pen to paper with the Bologna team and the latter has been linked with a satellite Yamaha squad alongside Sandro Cortese.

"We have been exploring options and Alvaro, potentially, is one of those options we would consider for next year's team with the Panigale V4," said Ciabatti, speaking at the Red Bull Ring.

"No decision has been made yet and I think it will take another week or ten days before we come up with a final decision for the Superbike team."