Hibs suffer blow as Darmstadt insist they want to keep Jamie Maclaren

Hibs have suffered a blow after Jamie Maclaren’s German club Darmstadt insisted he won’t be sold this summer.

The Australian striker formed a superb partnership with Florian Kamberi in the second half of last season.

And his eight goals in just 11 league starts, including a hat-trick in the thrilling 5-5 final day draw with Rangers, helped him win a place in Australia’s World Cup squad for the Russia tournament.

Maclaren has stated he would love to return to Edinburgh on a permanent deal, but the Bundesliga II club had initially demanded a hefty transfer fee because he still has over two years of his deal to run.

And manager Dirk Schuster has now revealed Maclaren is staying in Germany.

He said: “Jamie Maclaren returns to the club next week after an extended break because of the World Cup.

“We will sit down with him and discuss whether there is any concrete desire for a change of club.

“There is certainly none with us.

“After we clear the air, we will hopefully have a fit, healthy and happy player in our squad for the rest of the season.

“This season, we will have the likes of Hamburg and Cologne in the league. We need the best possible squad to challenge, which includes Jamie.”