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HEARTS SET ON SUCCESS

Neilson will get cash to improve squad

By DARREN JOHNSTONE

HEARTS chief executive Andrew McKinlay admits money will be made available to Robbie Neilson to build a bigger squad in preparation for European and domestic football.

Neilson has been given the green light to increase his first-team personnel from 21 to 24 by the club’s board. But with John Souttar heading to Rangers and loan players Ellis Simms, Ben Woodburn, Alex Cochrane and Taylor Moore returning to their parent clubs, the Hearts manager could end up looking for as many as eight new recruits.

Neilson has already said he would be keen to extend Simms, Woodburn and Cochrane’s stays at Tynecastle.

European football in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League — the latter of which would be guaranteed until Christmas — would supplement Hearts’ income by around £3million.

McKinlay said: ‘We will need to invest in a bigger squad. It won’t just be jersey-fillers, it has to be guys good enough for the team.

‘Robbie has talked about a net increase of three, taking the squad up to 24. We will be able to do that based on the money coming in. There is only so much you can do with your matchday income and Hearts do pretty well on that already. Prize money from the SPFL is what it is.

‘We hope to have this money every year but you need to be careful not to overspend, whilst also realising this is our opportunity to really kick on as Scotland’s third-biggest club.

‘We want to stamp our authority on that and we would also like to close the gap on the two teams above us.

‘I’m not trying to get rid of any of our players but Europe is a different marketplace. It puts a value on players once they reach that level and clubs start to appreciate them more.’

A shrewd recruitment drive last year led by sporting director Joe Savage laid the foundations for Hearts finishing comfortably as the third-best team in the country.

McKinlay told the Edinburgh Evening News: ‘The mantra at the time was “quality over quantity” and I think that was borne out. Joe will tell you not all signings work. Not all of our signings have done as well as we hoped, but many have. We now have some really great footballers on long-term contracts.’

Football

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2022-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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