Lions hunt down Basso

Published on Wednesday 23 July 2008 11:18

LIVINGSTON have approached Hearts with a loan offer for goalkeeper Anthony Basso and hope to lure the Frenchman to Almondvale following his fall from grace at Tynecastle.

Basso was left in Edinburgh by manager Csaba Laszlo on Sunday as the Hearts squad departed for their ten-day tour of Germany. He broke club discipline in an altercation with a reserve player last week and is now out of favour, alerting Livingston to the prospect of brokering a season-long loan.

Tomasso Angelini, a director at Almondvale, also represents Basso as a licensed FIFA agent and wants his client to aid a possible promotion push from the First Division. The club's new Italian consortium have contacted Mindaugas Nikolicius, a financial official from Hearts' parent company Ukio Bankas Investment Group, to declare their interest in the player and are currently awaiting a response to their loan offer.

Basso's 2000-a-week contract is due to expire next summer but his future is certain to lie away from Tynecastle after Laszlo dropped him from the squad for Germany. The Hungarian has stressed his desire to recruit a new goalkeeper before the SPL season begins, which would leave the Frenchman fourth in line behind Steve Banks, Jamie MacDonald and the new incumbent.

Livingston's offer appeals to Basso but Hearts have yet to take a decision on his fate. He is currently training with the youth squad at the club's Riccarton academy.

Meanwhile, the agent of Hassan Wasswa revealed today that he has received no contact from Hearts regarding a possible trial for the Ugandan internationalist. Recent reports suggested Laszlo was interested in the midfielder but his representative, Kasule Mujib, stressed that a move is unlikely.

He said: "I haven't had any calls from Hearts. Csaba Laszlo worked well with Hassan and helped develop him with Uganda so I think this is why some people thought he would try to get him to Scotland. Hassan has not played 75 per cent of Uganda's games so I don't think he would get a work permit.

"He is currently on trial with Ajax Cape Town in South Africa and I think he will sign a contract with them."