Jolly good Egg delighted to have clinched new contract

Of course, money is not the Icelander's sole motivation. Inside is a burning desire to evolve into one of Europe's most effective holding midfielders, one who may one day depart Tynecastle destined for a higher plane.

For now, though, life in Edinburgh is brimming with opportunities. Hence that smile. "I'm happy here and happy with the way things are going, so I was delighted to sign a new four-and-a-half-year deal. There was never really a doubt that was going to be the case," he said.

"I still had two years left on my old contract and I wasn't really thinking about anything else. Things have gone well at Hearts on a personal level. It's my first season with the first team and I've been a regular. I'm still a young boy but I think I'm progressing a lot and I want to keep on learning and improving.

"Hearts have good coaches and the facilities at the academy are great. This is a big club with a big fan base and a great stadium. These are all positives for me."

At times this season the positives have been somewhat clouded by events on-field, especially during Hearts' harrowing winter sequence of ten games without victory. Like the team, Jonsson has recovered sufficiently from those downbeat times but is mature enough to remember the lessons learned.

"There was a period when we didn't win a game between mid-November and January. At that time, all the players were down and we didn't look like we were going to win," he recalled. "When Shaggy (Stephen Frail] took over the team things got better and we got results after that. We've been a lot better since then.

"It's hard because there's a lot of competition for places and things haven't gone well for us at times. That's been hard to take but you need to just get over it, get on with things and take them as they come." Jonss
on, now a full international, first arrived in Gorgie during George Burley's tenure although, like most Hearts youth products of the last five years, he credits John McGlynn with a large part of his development.

"George was manager when I first came here but John McGlynn coached me at under-19s level, as did Stephen Frail after him. I always knew what I could do and I came here looking to improve. I'm approaching the end of my third season now.

"This season I came into the first team and knew I'd just need to work hard and try to get better every day. I want to be a regular for each forthcoming season but you need to earn your place here." As yesterday's announcement confirmed, Jonsson has done that and more. He is now a cherished asset at Tynecastle, the type any incoming manager could build a team around. Securing him until 2012 is indeed a shrewd piece of business by Hearts.

Taken from the Scotsman