Christian Nade tells of dispute with Hearts

Hearts officials reiterated that no such contract was ratified by their board of directors and insisted Nade has no case. Without documentation containing his signature, the player is struggling to prove his side of the argument and Hearts are adamant he will not be able to pursue them successfully.

Nade has contacted the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association and the Scottish Premier League for help as he contemplates legal action. His representative, Laurent D'Jaffo, is keen to press forward with the case, which centres around an email chain between D'Jaffo and Hearts director Sergejus Fedotovas.

Nade said the email details his original contract offer and therefore should constitute a legally-binding agreement. He claims he put pen to paper on the deal in the Tynecastle offices but was not given a copy of the agreement, which he claims Hearts then attempted to alter following his altercation with team-mate Ian Black at Celtic Park in February.

Nade admitted being initially reluctant to commit to a renewed contract when talks began as he had been informed privately that a change of manager may be in the offing. D'Jaffo eventually persuaded him that it would be in his best interests to accept Hearts' offer.

"It was after the Motherwell game in December when we won 1-0," explained the 25-year-old. "At the end of the game the club came to me and offered me a new contract. They asked me if I was interested and I knew, even if I'm not, I have to say yes. I know what they do when a player says they don't want to sign, so I said yes.

"A couple of days later they called me and said they wanted to meet me to talk about the contract. I went into the office and we talked, but I said the contract was not what I was looking for. The money was not enough and I wanted them to make another offer.

"I said I didn't want to talk about it any more and if they wanted to talk they could talk with my agent. That's what they did. They made a deal and it was good.

"I didn't want to sign because I spoke with some coaches who told me what was going to happen at Hearts soon. I told the club I didn't want to sign any more, but they kept calling me every night asking me to come and sign. I always tried to find an excuse not to go.

"They called my agent and he came over to Scotland. He told me the club had made me a good deal, that I didn't score a lot of goals last season so maybe it would be good for me to sign. Then I should try to be fit because I was going to play in my real position. So I was happy and I said let's sign.

"Two or three days before the Rangers game (on 23 January] my agent went to Tynecastle and they agreed everything. He called me about six o'clock in the evening and told me to come down. Tino (Konstantin Kornakov, assistant to sport director] was in the office with Alexandr (Metlitski, sport director]. Everything was okay and I signed the contract. It was for three-and-a-half years, but I could leave after two-and-a-half years.

"I wanted a copy of the contract because I always want to see everything. They said they would give me it the next day and I said that was fine. They said I should not speak with the media because they wanted to bring in other players at the end of the transfer window. They said we could talk about this the following Monday – after the game against Rangers – but I got a red card against Rangers.

"Then the club said we're going to wait to talk about this because of the red card. I said fine, I had signed the contract so I didn't need to worry.

"We played against Celtic (two weeks later] and after the match I punched Blackie. Two days after that they called me into the office and said: 'Okay Christian, if you want we can sack you.' It was Sergey who told me that. I asked why and he said: 'Because what you did to Blackie was wrong.' I said I knew it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it. I said I would apologise to him and to the team.

"The day after that we spoke together with Blackie and everything was fine. He still said he could sack me if I wanted but I said: 'You can sack me if you want but I have a contract because I signed a new deal. If you want to sack me, sack me. But we're going to go to court.'

"He replied: 'The law is on our side so if you want we can sack you. But we don't want to sack you. We want to change your contract.' I said: 'You can't change my contract, I signed the contract.' He answered: 'We're going to make you another offer', and he offered half the wages of the contract he gave me before.

"I said: 'If you want to sack me, sack me, but I'm not going to sign for this.' They said they weren't going to sack me but they would give me a fine. I went to the disciplinary and they gave me a one-week fine. I knew if they gave me a big fine I could go to the court and say I had a contract.

"I have proof because they sent an email to my agent with the offer of the first contract. I spoke with the SPL about this and they said what happened was wrong. They wanted to do something but we didn't have enough proof to bring it to court. After, Hearts admitted there was a contract. But they don't want to honour it."

Hearts are standing by their original response to Nade's claim, given when the Evening News broke the story of the dispute earlier this month. They refused to comment further. A club spokesperson said: "While initial contract extension talks took place earlier this season with Christian Nade, at no point was a contract extension agreed with the board of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

"While no decision has been reached yet on the future of the player at Hearts, naturally, since the discussions earlier in the year, there have been two key changes to the circumstances of the player. Firstly, the club appointed a new manager and, secondly, the player's own discipline has been the subject of internal disciplinary procedures."

Nade is still considering court action but admitted that he is struggling to muster enough motivation for a legal fight.

"I can do something but I can't be bothered because these people are not nice," he continued. "I like Hearts and I like everything there but these people really are not nice. You can't do anything with them. You try to make a deal and what they try to do is just f*** you over. My agent wants to do something so I need to speak with him."

The Frenchman will not be at Tynecastle when pre-season training begins in early July as his current contract expires on 30 June. It remains to be seen if he will fight his corner thereafter.

NADE'S RECORD AT HEARTS

HEARTS signed Christian Nade from Sheffield United in August 2007 for an undisclosed sum after he made his name with the winner in the Blades' 1-0 victory over Arsenal at Bramall Lane the previous season. However, he failed to reach such heights at Tynecastle.

2007/08

Games:27

Goals:5

Red cards:1

2008/09

Games: 38

Goals: 3

2009/10

Games:28

Goals:2

Red cards:1