Ambitious Berra happy at Hearts until move materialises

BARRY ANDERSON
WITH one week of the transfer window left, Christophe Berra has admitted he would welcome the opportunity to play at a level higher than the SPL. But the defender will remain wholly committed to Hearts until Vladimir Romanov receives an acceptable offer for his captain.
Berra spoke candidly to the Evening News about his future and acknowledged that he cannot influence the situation until a prospective buyer submits an official bid. As we revealed on Friday, Hearts value the 23-year-old Scotland internationalist at a minimum £3 million.

He is being monitored by English Premier League sides Everton and Fulham among others and is attracted by the prospect of moving south of the Border. To date, no offers have been forthcoming since Wolves had a £1.5m bid refused last summer. Scotland's transfer window closes at 5.00pm next Monday, February 2, and Berra knows the next seven days are crucial.

"I've never hidden the fact that I have aspirations to go and play at the highest level. If an opportunity did come, I'd like to think the club would give me that chance," he said.

"The SPL is a good league, Hearts are a great club, a big club, but there are bigger clubs and bigger leagues in the world.

"If you want to prove yourself against the best you've got to take that chance. If it did come up I would like to go. There's a week to go in the transfer window but it's not down to me really. There's a lot of speculation. It depends if a club makes a bid for me and whether it gets accepted. If it does, we'll see what happens.

"At the moment I'm at Hearts and I'm still giving 110 per cent. I still want to improve. I'll be glad when the window closes to be honest because I'll know where I am, whether I'm still here or away.

"If I'm still here it won't affect me one little bit, I'll still give 110 per cent for this club and for the manager. It's not in my hands, it's down to people at other clubs if they want to make an offer and Mr Romanov if he accepts."

Berra maintained that constant speculation over his future has not had an unsettling affect. "I heard people saying after the Motherwell game that maybe the speculation was affecting a few Hearts players. I don't think that's true," he continued.

"We went to Motherwell and didn't play well, it was one of those nights, but we bounced back and beat Hibs. I don't think the speculation has affected any of the players. If it starts to affect you people will notice.

"There has been lots of speculation about me and I've dealt with it fine. I've had harder circumstances to deal with in the past because there have been a lot of ups and downs here in recent seasons. I think I've come through it with my head held high."

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Janos Balogh is expected to sign a permanent contract with Hearts this week following negotiations between the club and his agent.

Teenage defender Matej Rapnik is being monitored by NK Ljubljana and has expressed an interest in returning to his native Slovenia.

"I am 18 years old and need to play regularly. If I play in Slovenia in the first league, this would be a step forward," he said.

Taken from the Scotsman