New contract? I just got here
Haring is happy at Hearts and not in a rush to sign on
PETER HARING insists there’s no hurry for him to sign a new Hearts deal because he’s just in the door at Tynecastle.
The Austrian midfielder’s form in his first eight months at the club has persuaded boss Craig Levein to offer him an extension to the 18 months he has left on his contract.
With the likes of Christophe Berra and John Souttar penning extensions and the club still chipping away at Steven Naismith, Haring is well aware Levein is determined to build something big in Edinburgh.
And he intends to be part of it. Haring said: “The manager has talked to me about that (contract) a couple of times but I still have one and a half years left so I am taking it easy. There’s no hurry.
“I told him it’s an honour for me that the club wants to extend it after I have just been here in Scotland for a couple of months.
“When you see important players signing new contracts it gives you a good feeling about the team.
“That tells you the club wants to build something.
“All I can say is I am really enjoying the chance to be here and play football, it’s just a fantastic place for me and all the players.
“It’s a massive club with good fans, it’s a good place to be a footballer.”
The former Ried star hasn’t featured since the winter break after undergoing a double hernia operation in January. But he returned to full training this week and should feature against St Mirren at Tynecastle today.
The 25-year-old hit the ground running with the Gorgie club and played an influential part in Hearts’ surge to the top of the Premiership table in October.
He eventually succumbed after playing through the pain barrier but not before helping Hearts beat rivals Hibs at Easter Road in December.
Haring said: “I feel good, everything went well and I’m happy to be back.
“It was quite a long time I had to deal with my groin problems and it feels much better now.
“I can’t remember when it all started but it was before the cup semi-final at Murrayfield against Celtic.
“That’s in the past, now I’m healthy and glad to be back.
“The week before the Hibs match it just got worse and worse every day and I felt it during the warm-up.
“During the game it felt painful and I had to go off.
“I didn’t enjoy it that much but I enjoyed it more when the game was over and we won.
“If it wasn’t such a big game I would have sat it out.”
I am really enjoying the chance to be here. It’s a fantastic place to be PETER HARING