Heartfelt plea

HRISTOS KARIPIDIS met with PAOK Salonika president Ioannis Goumenos today to plead for a move to Hearts - so he can return to Greece and help knock AEK Athens out of the Champions League.

The defender is desperate for his club to agree a fee that will take him to Tynecastle after Goumenos rejected Hearts' initial offer of £100,000 last week. That is now understood to have increased to £200,000, an amount that Karipidis believes should be sufficient to free him from the final year of his PAOK contract.

The player flew back to Salonika last night from PAOK's pre- season tour of France, and this morning met with his president to request permission to head to Edinburgh and conclude the transfer. Valdas Ivanauskas, the head coach at Tynecastle, considers 23-year-old Karipidis as an ideal replacement for the departed Andy Webster and believes he could arrive this week. And Karipidis intends one of his first missions in maroon colours to be the elimination of compatriots AEK from the final Champions League qualifier next month.

"If I go to Hearts it would be great to have the chance to play against another Greek team. I believe we could beat them," insisted Karipidis.

"I want to sign and I'm waiting for PAOK to agree with Hearts about the money for me.

"My wish is for it to be done quickly and I hope the deal will be finished in the next few days, maybe even by tomorrow.

"I am waiting to speak with the president to say I want to go to Hearts.

"I want things completed and I want to be there with Hearts in Bosnia this week and become part of the squad. I can't do anything to make a deal happen, only the teams can do this."

Karipidis would be ineligible for the second leg of Hearts' Champions League second qualifying round match with Siroki Brijeg on Wednesday as all players had to be registered by July 20. But, clearly, his intent is to integrate himself at Tynecastle as quickly as possible.

He continued: "I spoke with Takis Fyssas and he has told me a lot about the club, the country, the players and even the weather. He says a move to Hearts would work very well for a young player like me. I know they finished in second place last year and have a very good team.

"I am back in Salonika now and I will wait to see what happens with the agreement. If all goes well, I will fly to Edinburgh as soon as the teams agree."

AEK Athens will send a spy to Bosnia-Herzegovina to compile a dossier on Hearts this week. Either new manager Lorenzo Serra Ferrer or his assistant will take in the match in the Pecara Stadium with the Scottish side boasting a 3-0 cushion from the first leg. Hearts depart for Bosnia-Herzegovina tomorrow morning.

Midfielder Paul Hartley could step up his rehabilitation from a groin injury this week although he has little chance of facing Siroki Brijeg. "We are missing Paul and you can see that," said Ivanauskas after Saturday's 2-1 defeat of Dunfermline.

"Paul is the biggest player for us and we are waiting for him to return. He should be back training with the squad this week."

Meanwhile, as revealed in Saturday's Evening News, Czech star Rudi Skacel has completed a move, worth £1.6 million, to Southampton.

Taken from the Scotsman