Hearts set to profit from Arvydas Novikovas exit

By BARRY ANDERSON
Published on 08/06/2013 14:25

HEARTS will be due around £100,000 compensation when Arvydas Novikovas joins a new club, the Evening News can reveal.

Tynecastle officials protected their right to a development fee under FIFA rules by offering the 22-year-old a new contract before he left last month. He rejected and is now free to find a new club.

Because he came through the Riccarton youth academy and is under 23, Hearts are entitled to money from any new team outside Scotland which signs Novikovas. FIFA rules prevent clubs losing players for nothing when contracts end, provided a deal has been offered on at least equal terms to the one expiring. Hearts put a new contract to the Lithuanian winger before his previous one finished last month and will now expect a sizeable sum when he finds another club.

Any income over the summer will be gratefully received at Tynecastle as financial concerns continue. A £100,000 PAYE tax bill must be paid to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs before close of business on Monday to avoid a winding up order. Director Sergejus Fedotovas has written to fans asking them to buy season tickets, whilst parent company Ukio Bankas Investment Group are on the brink of insolvency.

Novikovas is wanted by clubs in Germany’s Bundesliga and Bundesliga.2 ahead of next season and Hearts will be monitoring the situation closely to see which team he chooses.

He arrived in Edinburgh from FK Vilnius in 2008 aged 17 and progressed through the Riccarton youth academy to make 79 first-team appearances, scoring seven goals. He decided to move on and seek a fresh challenge at the end of last season after five years in Scotland and is keen to sample football in another country.

Taken from the Scotsman