Hearts star Steven Naismith has had his say on team mate Kyle Lafferty’s potential return to Rangers, revealing that he hopes the Northern Irishman stays at the club.
Rangers made a £200,000 bid to bring the 30-year-old back to Ibrox last week, an offer that was quickly rejected. Steven Gerrard is expected to return with fresh terms soon.
When asked if he would be disappointed to see Lafferty go by BT Sport, Naismith said: “I think so,” via the Scottish Sun.
“He’s a big character around the place but he’s also a good footballer,” the 31-year-old said of a man who scored 19 goals in 41 games last year.
“He scored a lot of goals last season and probably this season is one he needs to go again because there’s competition for places.
“So hopefully the club can keep him and we can move on.”
OPINION
For a deal that’s only been in the pipeline for a few days this one is turning into quite the saga. Rangers can’t have genuinely expected their first offer for Lafferty to succeed, and Hearts are reportedly holding out for around £1million for the Northern Irishman, a significant increase on Gers’ opening foray. Gerrard has stated he is after two more additions this summer, a striker and a centre back, with Lafferty clearly the attacker he has in mind. Hearts are, understandably, loathe to lose a player who shone for them last season, but manager Craig Levein has already admitted that the player’s head has been turned by the speculation. A resolution to this situation is needed one way or the other, and it’s clear that the player’s Hearts teammate Naismith is keen for the striker to stay. Lafferty’s fellow players will be keen to build on a solid season from the Jambos last time out, but whether they’ll be doing that with the Northern Irishman or not remains up in the air at this time.