Johnson hopeful Porteous won’t join Premiership rivals
HIBERNIAN manager Lee Johnson admits he would rather see Ryan Porteous continue his career away from Scotland rather than become a rival player.
Johnson has also said that he has no concerns over the Scotland internationalist’s frame of mind ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish Premiership bout away to Rangers, a team the defender has been linked with.
Johnson revealed during the World Cup break that Porteous would not be signing a new contract and that the club would welcome offers in January for a player who has six months left of his deal.
While not completely giving up hope that Porteous could perform a U- turn, Johnson admits he would like to see Porteous either move down south or abroad should he depart Easter Road.
“I would personally prefer to see him go down south,” said Johnson. “It gets him in a different market and out the way!
“Because I like him and if I didn’t think he was any good I’d be happy for him to be playing for one of our rivals.
“If I was his advisor you have got to continue to try and be the best player you can be.
“There’s still a lot to do for him. He has bags of potential but my teams have sold Lloyd Kelly [ Bristol CityBournemouth] for £ 17.5 million rising to £ 22m, Adam Webster [ Bristol City to Brighton] £ 20m rising to £ 25m, and £ 3.5m for Marc Roberts [ Barnsley to Birmingham] after he signed for a free and £ 5.5m for Mawson from Barnsley [ to Swansea] that we signed for £ 60,000.
“So I have a lot of experience with this type of player. He is right up there with Webster, Kelly, Mawson in terms of his age and potential. They all had flaws in their game.
“We all laughed when I said about £ 10 million for Rocky Bushiri but if he fulfils his potential in a Championship side then that’s how much you’re paying for him minimum.
“Why can’t that happen in Scotland?
“You have seen the success of Josh Doig out in Italy. That’s a good marker for Italian clubs to look at the Scottish market.
“The Championship has always been hot on the Scottish market as has the Premier League.
“You look at the likes of Scott McKenna who went down to England and did really well.”
While aware of the speculation involving Rangers, Johnson has made it clear that the Ibrox club have made no official approach to Hibs about the player.
He added: “I have spoken to him, on a regular basis about potential options and he’s asked my advice on various clubs, Championship clubs, foreign clubs and stuff like that but honestly Rangers is not one of the ones that have come up.
“I’m not saying that doesn’t mean they’re in for him but maybe they have not been as prominent as some of the other clubs.”
Johnson also insists that Porteous is in the right frame of mind ahead of tomorrow’s match despite much interest in his next move.
He added: “I would not put a player on the pitch that I felt could have a negative effect on our team.
“It would not be fair. At the moment I genuinely don’t feel that. I would be more than happy to start Ryan against Rangers on Thursday.
“I’ve seen players chuck it in training in these situations.
“I’ve not seen any of that, I’ve seen a very humble, good guy who wants to win, who is flying into tackles in training, sometimes a bit too lively if I’m honest.”
Meanwhile, Hibs have urged supporters to come forward with information after it was found that a remark used towards one of their own players was racial.
In October, Marvin Bartley claimed a slur had been aimed at Hibs midfielder Jair Tavares during the Premiership clash at Tannadice.