St Johnstone striker Stevie May extends contract

Stevie May has been in fine form this season for St Johnstone. Picture: SNS

The 20-year-old forward has scored seven goals so far this season and also made his debut for the Scotland Under-21 side.

His goal against Hearts earlier this year was his 50th professional goal in just 73 matches, and his goal led St Johnstone to a famous victory over Rosenborg in the Europa League qualifiers in August.

The club have reportedly been working for some time to tie up May on a longer contract, holding talks with the player and his representatives for a number of weeks.

Saints boss Tommy Wright said: “I’m delighted that Stevie has extended his contract.

“To some people it may have taken a while to conclude but having spoken to the player we were always confident that the deal would be done.

“There were a number of finer details that had to be ironed out but negotiations were handled well by both parties and it’s fine to get it done.”

May returned to McDiarmid Park for the start of the 2013/14 season after successful loan spells at Alloa, during which he scored 19 goals in 22 and at Hamilton, where he found the net 25 times in 33 games.

He was at the centre of a transfer row in August, after Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony hit out at the McDiarmid Park side for their behaviour regarding interest in May from the English side.

The Posh made a number of bids for the striker after his impressive start to the season, but were unable to reach an agreement with Saints officials. And MacAnthony claimed he was unhappy with comments made by Wright, after the Saints boss had told the Perthshire Advertiser that he was keen to keep May at St Johnstone, adding: “No disrespect to Peterborough, but if [Stevie] keeps playing here and scores 20 goals this season then he might get a bigger club looking at him.”