Rudi Skacel in talks over new deal and keen to stay at Hearts

By GRAHAM BEAN
Published on Wednesday 11 January 2012 00:48

RUDI Skacel has confirmed he is in talks to extend his contract with Hearts but has warned that he is tired of being used as a substitute.

The Czech international’s current deal expires at the end of the month but he would like to prolong what is his second stint at the Tynecastle club.

Hearts have opened discussions with the attacking midfielder but any new deal will hinge on the player’s wage demands. Hearts are in a parlous financial position, as borne out by their failure to pay their players on time in recent months. They are expected to sell players during the January transfer window to alleviate their problems.

Skacel, 32, used his Twitter account yesterday to reveal that contract talks with the club had begun. “I’m talking to Hearts,” he tweeted. “My priority to stay!

“I feel I can still help the club but u need to understand I do not wanna sit on the bench!”

Skacel has started just 12 times this season in 21 competitive appearances for the Tynecastle club. Despite this he is the club’s top scorer with five goals, his latest coming in the 3-1 win over Hibs in the New Year derby.

In fact, his value to Hearts in terms of goals cannot be overstated. He was top-scorer last season with 13 goals in 29 games after rejoining the club following moves to Southampton and Hertha Berlin. During his first spell with Hearts, in season 2005/06, he was top league scorer with 16 goals in 35 games and also netted in the Scottish Cup final win over Gretna.

Crawley Town manager Steve Evans expressed an interest last week in signing Skacel but the player has made it clear he has no interest in moving to League Two in England.

Senior sources at Hearts, meanwhile, say they know nothing of reported interest in Andrew Driver from the French Ligue 1 club Evian. Driver spoke last month of wanting to leave after being frustrated at a lack of game time. He has since made his peace with manager Paulo Sergio and played more regularly.

Hearts have also announced the appointment of Konstantin Kornakov to the newly-created role of head of football administration. Fluent in English, Russian and Spanish, Kornakov has been with the club since 2007. A statement on the Hearts website said: “He will be responsible for all administrative matters in relation to player trading and also broader aspects of the governance of football, domestically and in the European game.”

Taken from the Scotsman