Jamie Walker has opened up on his Hearts to Rangers transfer hell after admitting that his failed Ibrox move back in 2017 caused his head to 'go all over the place' after scrutiny from fans and pundits across the nation.
Walker, who burst onto the scene at Hearts after making his debut aged just 19, became a mainstay in the team from the get go. Six full seasons in Gorgie saw Walker make over 160 appearances for the club, registering 38 goals in all competitions from the wings as he became a hot property in Scotland with another 18 youth appearances for the national team.
A particularly strong season in 2016/17 saw him linked with Rangers, who had forged their way back into the upper echelons of the Scottish Premiership once again in a bid for silverware. But the two clubs could not agree on a valuation and Walker remained at Hearts before moving to League One outfit Wigan just six months later. His failed move to Rangers saw him go through 'mentally tough' periods amid the 'messy' situation.
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He told Football Scotland: "It was pretty tough. I'd just come off the back of a season scoring 15 goals from midfield for Hearts and I was still quite young.
"It was mentally tough. Obviously, Rangers are a massive club and wanted me to go there. It got a bit messy and obviously, it didn't go through. I played for Hearts for the first six months of the season before I went to Wigan.
"I wasn't playing well at all and that was part of the reason I left. I wasn't playing well and wanted something fresh. Wigan were top of League One at the time and I just thought it was a good opportunity.
"I'm sure it was like £700-800k but I think Hearts wanted a million and I think Rangers just didn't want to pay that. It wasn't tough for me that it never went through because it was Rangers, it was just more because there was a lot of scrutiny around it and my head was all over the place.
"I went back to Hearts and wasn't playing well and people were like 'should've just sold him'. It was all a bit messy and a really hard time of my career."
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