Hearts boss issues Lawrence Shankland transfer update after ‘comfortable’ Deadline Day

Steven Naismith, the head coach of Hearts, described transfer deadline day at Tynecastle as “comfortable” and expressed his ease with the circumstances surrounding club captain and top scorer Lawrence Shankland.

The Scotland international was not the subject of any last-minute inquiries or bids, according to the Jambos coach, who expressed no concern about losing his lucky charm. He stated: “Knowing what it would take made me comfortable.

“The choice is the decision if that person was willing to pay the amount. Although it’s a difficult choice, you must make it for the benefit of the club and the wider picture. However, we were always intending to keep him if no one else reached that stage. I’ve stated that Lawrence can stay here for a minimum of 18 months if that’s what we desire. Another problem will arise in the summer. Clubs will visit and place bids if they are interested in your players. That’s up to us to determine.

We shall make every effort to extend the careers and tenure of any players we believe to be valuable members of the team. We’ve made Lawrence a new contract offer, and it’s the best one we can right now. Then, in order to prevent more questions, there is a tie limit.

“We hope he stays here for as long as possible. We’re doing everything we can right now, but if it turns out that’s not what Lawrence needs—who knows if that will change by summer?—we’ll just have to wait and see if anything happens. We have halted everything for the time being. Our goal for the second half of the season is to succeed. and, ideally, conclude the campaign with a strong cup run and European football.

“We’ll talk about the football, there will come a point where I’m sure we’ll have another conversation about a contract extension, but it is what it is, he’ll sign or he won’t,” Naismith said in response to a question about if or when he will resume contract negotiations with his captain. I will not put up with being asked over and over again whether we want a player who has been here for at least eighteen months. Football moves quickly, so it’s not a huge deal; it’s just a deadline, and we can move on.” “Now that we have the football under control, we can concentrate on it.”

Hearts player Alex Cochrane was also said to be interested in a January transfer, so Shankland wasn’t the only one. But in the end, on the day of the deadline, there was just one late bid, and the Jambos swiftly kicked it out.

In a frantic attempt to get a loan transfer for Toby Sibbick, Fleetwood Town provided the following explanation, according to Naismith: “The Toby one comes from it being a window and people being desperate and needing a deal to be done.” By then, we are out of the window and unable to respond. I mentioned that perhaps you could cover if there are guys that don’t want to be here and had the chance to go, perhaps two weeks ago. But when the final day approaches, there is no possibility of that. That also made Toby feel at ease.

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