Sheffield Wednesday reportedly turned down a six figure transfer bid from Hearts for Callum Paterson on deadline day.
Robbie Neilson tried several times during January to bring the Scotland international back to Tynecastle. However, Hillsborough boss Darren Moore decided he wanted to keep Paterson at the club as the Owls push for the League one title and a return to the second tier of English football.
Now the Sheffield Star reports that the Jambos had an offer in the hundreds of thousands booted out by the South Yorkshire outfit, who have now opened talks with Paterson over a new contract. He’s set to leave in the summer when his current deal expires, and Hearts could yet land him on a pre-contract if he wants to return to his formative club for a potential crack at European football. Sporting director Joe Savage admitted they will try and persuade Paterson to come back to Gorgie, but it could heavily depend on whether Wednesday secure promotion or not.
Going up would allow them to significantly increase their budget and could see Hearts blown out of the water when it comes to finances. Speaking on deadline day, Savage explained: "It’s been well documented that we’ve had an interest in Callum Paterson.
“We made another offer today to get him and Sheffield Wednesday rejected it. They don't want to sell him so you respect their decision and you move on. We’ve always preached that it's about quality rather than quantity. We tried to get Callum, it never went through so we moved on. I was home for half past seven."
Paterson scored Wednesday's winner over Plymouth Argyle at the weekend. However, he then suffered an injury and is waiting on scan results to learn the extent of the damage. The 28-year-old had been on the fringes of the team until recently, and could be facing another spell on the sidelines.
READ NEXT:
