Matt LeBlanc is in talks to star in a sitcom centred around his Friends character Joey Tribbiani, according to the Hollywood Reporter today.

The newspaper reports that LeBlanc, NBC and production company Warner Bros. are in "stepped up negotations" for the spinoff series, which could be on air as soon as next year.

Friends writers / exec. producers Scott Silveri and Shana Goldberg-Meehan are said to have been drafted in to pen a pilot script should a deal be reached.

The show will begin its tenth and final series on NBC this September.