HEARTS ARE AS BIG AS ARSENAL

HEARTS' latest signing Lee Johnson reckons his new club are as big as English Premiership giants Arsenal.

After being shown round the Jambos' first-class facilities at Riccarton and Tynecastle the midfielder could tell exactly why Graham Rix's men are pushing for a Champions League place and lie just seven points behind SPL league leaders Celtic.

And so he had no hesitation in leaving League One outfit Yeovil and signing for Hearts on a two-and-a-half year deal.

Johnson began his career at Arsenal under Bruce Rioch at the age of 15 before joining Watford's youth academy.

He then had spells at Brighton and Brentford before establishing himself at Yeovil under the tutelage of his father, former Latvia boss Gary Johnson, who took his son to Huish Park in 2001.

The dead-ball expert became a key player in his four-and-a-half years at the Somerset club, making 227 appearances and scoring 28 times.

The 24-year-old, who was tracked by Hearts head coach Rix for months, revealed he is now in dreamland after 1 making the journey from the English Conference to the verge of the Champions League in just four seasons.

Johnson said: "I didn't, realise how big this club was. I was speaking to the manager and I said to him there is nothing I Arsenal have got that Hearts have not.

"This is the perfect place to kick your career on and improve myself as a player.

"I'm being serious, the facilities are unbelievable, right down to the yoga teacher, the nutritionists, the psychologists, the outdoor facilities and pitches - it's top notch.

"I don't know if Arsenal had a yoga teacher when I was there as a youngster.

"I was aware of Hearts' start to the season. Everyone knew about the revolution and everyone was saying what a great club it would be to join.

"Four months later I find myself here and I am delighted.

"I can see why Hearts are challenging the Old Firm. There is the belief that they can take on the Old Firm and Vladimir Romanov has come in and raised the profile of the club.

"It would be Roy of the Rovers stuff for me if Hearts reached the Champions League just a few seasons after I was playing in the Conference. But I've always had the confidence that I could do it.

"Anything that comes to me in terms of European football is going to be a new experience."

While at Yeovil Johnson got rather used to picking up silverware. He won the Conference and Division Two as well as the FA Trophy.

And now he has set his sights on picking up a third league title in four seasons.

Johnson said: "At Yeovil my dad put together a team of lads who were all released by top clubs and we were far too good for that level to be honest.

"We won the Conference and then won the FA trophy. We finished eighth in League Two in our first season and then we won it the next year.

"I've come here as I believe Hearts can win cups and leagues and I want to continue that winning run I've been on in the last few years. I've played in front of some big crowds and I know that the SPL is a different level to the lower leagues in Scotland.

"If I play against the likes of the Old Firm then it is going to be a different story but I'm a footballer and that's what you live for.

"I'm not going to get frightened by the situation. I'm going to get a buzz off it.

"I've just found out my dad was mentioned as a candidate for the manager's job at Hearts but he was linked with quite a few jobs when he left Yeovil.

"But he did encourage me to come up to Scotland and better myself as a player. He said that joining Hearts would be a great career move for me."

Johnson, who qualifies to play for Scotland through his mother, was once sent off for using insulting sign language. He said: "I was playing against Swansea who Yeovil had turned down a £100,000 bid for me.

"The ball hit one of their players on the forearm and I gestured it did but the referee showed me a straight red card for using insulting sign language.

"I got a one-match ban. It was frustrating but I can laugh about it, all now. I guess it was fate I didn't join Swansea and ended up here at Hearts."

Taken from the Daily Record