Robbie Neilson insists the ball is in Sheffield Wednesday’s court after firing in a January bid to bring back Hearts hero Callum Paterson.
The Jambos have lined up the 28-year-old Scotland cap on a pre-contract agreement in the summer but are hoping to thrash out a deal to get him north this month. Aussie striker Garang Kuol’s loan move from Newcastle is expected to be rubber stamped in the next 24 hours, with the 18-year-old only making the move from Central Coast Mariners to the Magpies last week. But Neilson admitted the Paterson bid is in limbo and said: “There’s been no progress at the moment, the two sporting directors have spoken and we’ve put a couple of offers in. It’s a case of waiting now, Callum is their player and we need to respect that.”
Hearts will push for Paterson but Australian World Cup star Kuol’s loan move to Hearts from Newcastle United should be given the green light today. Neilson said: “We’re just waiting on the paperwork, the two clubs have agreed it’s just whether we can get it over the line. Hopefully it gets done.
“I’m delighted with it so hopefully we can get it done and completed over the next couple of days.”
Neilson has already snapped up Japan under 21 attacker Yutaro Oda from Vissel Kobe and bagged defender James Hill on loan from Bournemouth for the rest of the season. He has been thrilled to do his business early and he insisted players are queuing up to come to Tynecastle with the Jambos flying high in the Premiership and pushing for Europe again.
Neilson said: “With any window you want them on the first day. So to get these two in early is great.
“Hopefully we can get another one or two in as well to bolster it again. So getting them in early helps.
“I was delighted with what we had before the window opened, adding to it is great. If we can get another two in then fantastic, the squad is in a good place. We’ve got Halliday back, Stephen Kingsley back in as well.
“You speak to the players and show them what we’ve done previously, cups finals, European football, show them the fan base, selling out every single home game, the city, the training ground. The better players we get in the more chance we have of continuing that.
“Players want to come here and be fighting at the top end of the league, they want to progress in cups, Europe, they want to play in front of full houses every week so it’s definitely a big selling point. For us it’s about picking the right ones.”
Neilson admitted there could also be exits during the window but he’ll assess his squad towards the end of January. He said: “Potentially, for me it’s about getting the ones in then making a decision about who goes out. Probably a couple of the younger ones will go out on loan for development and then we’ll look at the senior ones later in the window."
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