Hibs tear up Stokes contract
Striker Anthony Stokes last night left Hibs by mutual consent, just six months into a two-year contract.
The Irish striker has been exiled from the first-team squad since incurring the wrath of club management during the recent training trip to Portugal.
Hibs boss Neil Lennon, speaking earlier yesterday, said he hoped Stokes would depart by the end of the transfer window.
The 2016 Scottish Cup final hero, who has scored 11 goals in 21 appearances this season, is now on the lookout for a new club.
Hibs were last night on the brink of completing the signing of Swiss striker Florian Kamberi as they seek to capitalise on more of their goalscoring opportunities in the second half of the season.
The Easter Road club have had the 22-year-old on trial for the past two weeks and manager Neil Lennon believes he has seen enough to take a punt on the youngster until the end of the campaign, with the option of making it a permanent deal in the summer.
Stating that he hopes the player will bring goals to his team, Lennon said the forward will also bring some physicality.
“He is not a monster but he is a big boy and he plays well with his back to goal. He has decent mobility and links the play well from what we have seen and we have had a good look at him. It is always good to see him close up rather than just in footage and I have been pleasantly surprised by what he’s brought. Hopefully he can bring a different dimension to the way we play sometimes.”
Revealing that Kamberi has taken a pay cut to push through the move from Grasshoppers, the Leith gaffer says that proves how keen he is to be part of things at Hibs.
“That speaks volumes for how much he wants to try to progress his career again. Sometimes you have to take a step back togo forward again and I think that’s the way he is looking at it.”
The player will now compete with Oli Shaw, Simon Murray and fellow newcomer Jamie Mclaren for the chance to lead the line but the club are hoping they can offload others who they have deemed surplus to requirements and free up money to recruit another attacking midfielder.
While Danny Swanson has turned down the chance to head back to St Johnstone, preferring instead to stay and fight for involvement with his boyhood heroes, the club hopes to move out forward Deivydas Matulevicius before the window shuts tonight.
Another player who seems to be on his way is defender Liam Fontaine. The Englishman has slipped down the pecking order and is in talks with Ross County.