Balogh eyes SPL rivals as he leaves Hearts in January

Published on Wednesday 30 November 2011 12:00

Janos BALOGH will leave Hearts in January – with the Hungarian goalkeeper hoping to move to a rival SPL team.

Balogh’s agent Alexander Szatmari told the Evening News today that his client he will end his three-and-a-half year association with Hearts when his contract ends in the new year.

“He feels a change is necessary,” said Szatmari. “Now, I will try to find a new club for him. It’s not so easy for him as he’s not in the team, but he is still a good age. He hasn’t had a chance this year.

“I will stop to see what the possibilities are, we will look in the market. It’s not easy in the middle of the season to make a transfer but we will see.”

Balogh, pictured left, has endured a frustrating spell as back-up to Marian Kello and Jamie MacDonald recently and has featured just twice for the Hearts first team in the past 20 months, his only outing this season coming in Hearts’ defeat to Ayr United on penalties in the Scottish Communities Cup. However, the 29-year-old, whose wife and two kids are settled in Edinburgh, has indicated that he would like to continue to play in Scotland’s top tier.

“He likes Scotland very much,” said Szatmari. “His first year [at Hearts] was very good, in the second year he was unlucky with injuries. He told me Edinburgh is a very good place, that it’s nice to live there, very quiet, very safe. He has a nice life there. I don’t think he would like to go home [to Hungary] at this stage, he wants to continue to stay in Scotland or somewhere in western Europe.”

Taken from the Scotsman