Stephen Humphrys is desperate to make his Hearts switch a permanent one and strut his stuff on the continent again next season. But he revealed he’s had no contact from parent club Wigan Athletic.
The Latics are on their third manager of the season after Shaun Maloney replaced the sacked Kolo Toure, whose reign ended after just two months in charge. They had the option of recalling Humphrys in January, but the deadline for doing so passed, with the player happy to remain in Gorgie until the summer anyway. He hopes he’ll be back again next season, but will still have a year left on his deal in Lancashire so some negotiation will be required between all three parties.
Robbie Neilson 's men are on course for a second successive third place finish in the Premiership and European qualification that comes with it. Humphrys netted for Hearts away to Fiorentina last year and wants more of the same if they are indeed looking out the passports again in a few months’ time.
“Well I’ve got 18 months left at Wigan and I’ve made it clear that I love it here and I wanted to stay here for the remainder of the season,” he said. “It’s something we’ll revisit in the summer I’m sure, but I'm contracted to Wigan so it is what it is.
“I’d love to be a part of it, of course. Who doesn’t want to be a part of European football? But I’ve got to keep performing to keep the interest from Hearts first of all and then we’ll revisit at the end of the season. But who doesn't want to play European football?
"I've not spoken to anyone at Wigan really since I left in the summer. The last person I spoke to was Liam Richardson and he’s not there anymore. They’ve had two managers since.
“I’m sure I will speak to them in the summer but there’s been no contact as of yet. We’ll see how it goes.”
As for how the level he’s playing at now compares to down south, Humphrys had a message for the naysayers who dismiss Scottish football as being on a par with the lower leagues down south.
He told Sky Sports: “People in England have a real strange opinion of Scotland. The level of football here is a lot higher than what they think. People say it’s League One, League Two football but it’s really not. If Hearts were in England, we’d be competing in the Championship for sure.”
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