Hamilton Accies face an anxious wait to discover if Jamie Hamilton will sign a new contract after “pushing the boat out’’ to keep him at New Douglas Park.
The 20-year-old has climbed through the youth ranks to become a key man for Accies in recent years, but his impressive displays have attracted interest from a host of clubs in England, with Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic also mentioned among his admirers.
Hamilton is out of contract at the end of the season and Accies boss Stuart Taylor has revealed the club have done all they can to get him to sign a new deal.
They are now waiting to hear back from the Scotland youth international’s representatives and Taylor insists Accies remain hopeful a deal can be struck to extend his stay.
He said: “Jamie’s contract is up at the end of the season, but the club has had numerous chats with him and his agent.
“We will always be hopeful up until the day it is impossible.
“The club have done fantastically well in terms of the offers we have made, but we are just waiting on word back on where he is with that and what his thoughts are.
“We’ve done everything we possibly can. There’s no point where we can turn around and say we could have done better.
“The club has really pushed the boat out to try and keep him.
“It’s not one where we’ve admitted defeat or anything like that. We are still hopeful and still trying. Conversations are still going on. There’s a lot of dialogue between myself and Jamie, and the club and Jamie’s agent.
“Like a lot of players nowadays, they take a lot of time to assess things and that is understandable because it is a big decision.
“He’s telling us he is happy with everything, so we are waiting to see what the final decision is.
“I don’t think the club could do anymore to try and keep him.”
Hamilton has made 33 appearances this season for Accies, playing both at the back and in midfield on occasion.
And having progressed from their under-16s to the first-team, Taylor hopes the club’s prize asset can continue his football education with them.
He added: "We would like to develop Jamie a bit more. We would like him to play a few more games under us.
"He has a great relationship with the back four and when he's been playing as a wing back, he's had a great relationship with our midfielders.
"Hence the reason why the club has pushed the boat out.
"We are trying to keep him for those reasons, but we just need to wait and see."
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