Robbie Neilson believes Hearts have an asset in Kye Rowles as he labelled his star man and agent as 'outstanding' over his new five-year deal.
The Australia international was the subject of many enquiries following an excellent World Cup finals with the Socceroos without any concrete bids landing at the door of the Tynecastle club. His agent made it clear to any interested clubs at the time his client wanted to stay in the capital and develop after just a handful of games after his summer arrival.
He will play a major role in the heart of Hearts' defence for years to come with boss Neilson giving a detailed insight into why the club decided to secure the stopper on a long-term deal. He also hailed the 'smooth' process over the negotiations. He said: “It’s nice to see. It was the boy Simon Miotto who did the deal. He was great and understands the pathway for the player here. I was really pleased it went smoothly.
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"Kye and his agent have both been outstanding. They understand that he came here, played 10 games and went to a World Cup and they see this as the place that he can play football for a number of years.
“If he continues to progress then yes, he will move on eventually but we just felt it was right for him to commit his future to the club. It allows him to develop and it allows us to build as well.
"The important for the football club, from a financial point of view, is that we have an asset on a long-term deal. But from a football point of view we can build a team around Kye. What we don't want to do is have a good group and then Kye leaves for free at the end of a season, and then we have to re-recruit, rebuild the team.
“We felt it was the right thing to [offer him a new deal] because he had such a good World Cup and he did so well for us. So we felt he deserved to have a longer-term contract.
"I think it works both ways. We showed him that respect that we think he deserves and he shows us the respect because we've given him a platform to play here.
“There was a lot of interest in Kye, teams enquiring about him, but no offers actually came in. Again, his agent was very good in that whoever contacted him, he said to them that Kye wanted to stay at Hearts and develop. He wants to continue to play there and see where his is in a few years’ time.”
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