Lennon tells Stokes to join Hibs for sake of his career
● Club offers ‘very good deal’ to cup hero ● Juventus midfielder set for Easter Road
Neil Lennon has urged Anthony Stokes to return to Hibs for the sake of his career but hasn’t imposed a deadline to hear back from the striker – yet.
The Hibs manager has already made Stokes, who played for him at Celtic, a contract offer. But Lennon accepts the Irishman – who turns 29 today – needs time to assess his options after being freed by Blackburn Rovers.
“At this juncture of his career, I think he needs to play, and play for a club that wants him here and for a manager who knows him inside out and can deal with all his little issues, because we’ve all had them,” said Lennon.
“We’ve made him a strong offer, a very, very good offer from the club’s point of view,” he added.
“We’re certainly not holding a gun to his head at the minute – although I might eventually if he doesn’t hurry up.
“He’s knows he’s a hero after the Scottish Cup final and he knows the management team and the majority of the players. He knows we can get the best out of him.”
Lennon can afford to be a little more relaxed as he is on the verge of competing the year-long loan from Juventus of Lithuanian midfielder Vykintas Slivka, who is in Edinburgh already.
Striker Deivydas Matulevicius, Slivka’s compatriot, signed on a two-year deal from Belgian side Royal Excel Mouscron last week, with Lennon explaining clubs get better value for money when signing players from abroad. “Ideally, you want British players in,” he said. “But the way the game is going and the market is going they are pricing themselves out of a move to us anyway. So we look elsewhere. We are just waiting on the paperwork and the confirmation to come through.”
Slivka, 22, set up Fedor Cernych’s goal for Lithuania when they drew 1-1 with Scotland at Hampden in a World Cup qualifier last year. Both he and Matulevicius are in line to play against Scotland in September when Gordon Strachan’s side travel to Vilnius for a must-win clash. Slivka has spent most of his time since signing for Juventus three years ago out on loan.
“He is here,” Lennon said. “We are waiting for clearance from Juventus now to get the deal completed. He is in the building, but he can’t train. So we have to take care of that. He is just doing some fitness work and some physical work at the minute.
“We are just waiting for clearance to come through and the deal will get completed. He wants to come here. Tactically, he is very good. He is athletic, two-footed and has an eye for a goal. He covers the ground very well and looks very composed on the ball.”