Neilson will stick to his guns over Paterson
HE first took the reins as Hearts emerged from the ashes of financial mismanagement. But Robbie Neilson insists the Tynecastle club are now able to stand up to cut-price approaches from predatory English outfits. The Hearts boss was speaking after kicking out bids of £600,000 and £700,000 from Wigan Athletic for right-back Callum Paterson. Hearts are believed to rate the Scotland defender at £1.2million, with Neilson insisting the days of cash-strapped Scottish clubs accepting a ‘pittance’ for their best assets are gone. He said: ‘We’ve put a valuation on Callum and it’s not too much for a current Scotland international with a huge career ahead of him. ‘But — as has happened in the past — English clubs think they can come up here and offer lower sums than they should be expected to pay. ‘I think that, to English clubs, every market is an easy market with all the money there is circulating down there. ‘But the only way they’re going to get realistic is by (Scottish) teams being strong. ‘The whole ethos of this club is to develop players to sell them on for a figure we believe is acceptable, at the right time. ‘And, if clubs want to come along and put an offer in that is nowhere near our valuation, then they’re not getting our player. ‘It’s about setting a precedent, absolutely. Even if a player is in the final year of his contract, we still want an acceptable price. What’s the point of giving away our best players for a pittance? ‘So Wigan need to substantially put their offer up then we would have a look at it. But until a bid comes in that matches our valuation, he’ll be remaining with us. I’ve spoken to Callum and he understands the situation.’ Neilson feels the 21-year-old is ready to make his mark down south, but he would have no qualms about letting him run down his contract before leaving for a development fee next summer. And he has no worries about the player being affected by the situation ahead of tomorrow’s trip to face Partick Thistle. ‘Callum isn’t unsettled,’ he said. ‘You only need to look at his performance against Inverness last weekend, when he was great. ‘He’s not a kid. He’s very experienced, he’s played international football and has 150 games under his belt for a club like Hearts. This won’t faze him. He’ll play against Partick. ‘If we need to let his contract run for the final year, then so be it. The flip side of that is we’ll have Callum Paterson — a Scotland international — for another year. And then we’ll get compensation.’