Vladimir Romanov might have to revise sums as Hearts exodus fails to materialise

WITH just hours remaining until the end of the latest transfer window, the expected exodus from Hearts has not occurred. Fans of the Tynecastle club can breathe a sigh of relief. Not so, however, the Hearts owner.

According to one source at the club, Hearts - or at least Vladimir Romanov - would be able to “breathe a lot more comfortably” had it proved possible to sever ties with several of the high-earners on the playing staff, as had been hoped.

Included in this group are David Obua and Suso Santana, the winger who has recently returned from injury. With the contracts of both players due to expire at the end of the season, Hearts would be prepared to let them leave without a fee. This reflects the fact that the club are eager to remove both from the wage bill while also taking into account that neither is likely to command enough interest to make it realistic to place a fee on their heads. It is understood that they will not be offered a deal to cancel their contracts.

Theirs is a different case to Ryan Stevenson, whose performances in a maroon shirt prior to his walk-out, during the dispute over unpaid wages, meant that the midfielder, also out of contract in the summer, saw the club receive a fee understood to be in the region of £50,000 from Ipswich Town following his move to Suffolk. The 27-year-old scored 11 goals in 67 appearances for Hearts but has not featured in the first-team for over a month.

Both Obua and Santana date back to a time when Hearts were offering players the kind of salary which has helped leave the club in the financial difficulties they are in today and were high on the list of those who were considered most likely to leave this month. So far, that has not proved the case. The club have not ruled out further outward movement today, however. Reports have linked winger David Templeton with a move to Rangers for a fee of around £500,000. This deal, though, is dependent on Nikica Jelavic’s move to Everton going through as well as on the Ibrox side’s ability and desire to meet Hearts’ valuation. Indeed, Paulo Sergio, the Hearts manager, could find that his side is suddenly bereft of width if Andrew Driver manages to secure a loan deal elsewhere, as is desired by both parties.

Differences between Driver and Sergio came to the fore last month after he was dropped from the match day squad on the morning of a league fixture against Dunfermline Athletic. Although the row was later resolved Driver has not managed to establish himself in the side under Sergio, and is one of several Hearts players for whom today could prove significant.

Marian Kello’s immediate future at the club has been placed in question following news of new contracts agreed with the Slovak’s two understudies, Jamie MacDonald and Mark Ridgers. MacDonald signed a new two year extension on Friday, keeping him at the club until 2014. Ridgers, meanwhile, has since also signed a new two year deal, as confirmed on the official Hearts website yesterday. He made his Scotland Under 21 debut for Billy Stark’s side in November in a shock victory over the Netherlands in Nijmegan.

He also benefited from a loan spell with East Fife earlier in the season. It is understood that Hearts expect Kello to stay until the end of the season - although he could still agree a pre-contract deal with another club by the end of today.

Rudi Skacel, meanwhile, is described as “edging closer” to signing a new deal at Hearts, which he has described as his preferred option. The midfielder, who scored a hat-trick in his last-but-one appearance, will believe he can command a better deal following the expiry of the short-term teal he signed in August, when Hearts were unsure about his fitness. If the parties do not agree a deal today the midfielder is likely to move on to England, where he is described as having “options”.

It is, though, likely to fall far short of the scenario imagined by many where Hearts would be reduced to filling up the team with recruits from the Under 19s team for first post-transfer window fixture, against St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup this weekend. Even Hearts looked to be preparing for such an eventuality. John Murray has been invested with the title of Director of Football in what was described as a “transformational phase” for the club. Murray did note that this new emphasis on youth would not happen “overnight”.

Only Dylan McGowan, who is at Gold Coast United in the Australian A-League, remains out on loan. All others, including the platoon of Hearts players at Raith Rovers, have been re-called, but might not now be needed - not just yet, anyway.

It has not been the ‘fire-sale’ anticipated. Good news for the supporters, perhaps. But not for those with the task of securing funds as another payday looms, in just over a fortnight’s time.