Hibs seal a deal for Swede star Hallberg
Hibernian boss Paul Heckingbottom has made Melker Hallberg his ninth summer signing after recruiting the former Sweden Under-21s midfielder on a three-year deal.
The 23-year-old joins from Danish outfit Vejle boldklub, where he made 29 appearances last term.
Hallberg began his career at Kalmar FF, making his debut at 16 years of age, before moving to italian side Udinese in 2014.
The box-to-box playmaker only managed four league appearances with Udinese and spent time on loan at norwegian side Valerenga and Hammarby in his homeland before making the switch to Denmark last summer.
Heckingbottom said: ‘Melker is a young player who has a lot of attributes and potential. He is
comfortable on the ball, plays with a lot of energy and is tactically very good.
‘His pedigree speaks for itself and we were impressed by his determination to come here ahead of offers elsewhere.’
Melker, who could make his debut in today’s Ladbrokes Premiership visit of St Johnstone should international clearance arrive in time, said: ‘i’m really excited to have signed for Hibernian. i think it’s the perfect place for me to enjoy my football and develop as a player.
‘i had other options, but they made me feel really wanted and it helps to know they have been looking at me for some time.
‘From what i have seen, i think i will be well suited to Scottish football and i like the passion of the supporters. i’m just looking forward to getting started now.’
Heckingbottom (right), meanwhile, has urged his players to be ‘honest’ and to stop losing cheap goals.
The head coach was left fuming at his team’s ‘shocking’ and ‘unacceptable’ defending during their 6-1 thrashing at rangers in the Premiership and last week’s 5-3 extra-time win against Morton in the betfred Cup.
reflecting on the tie against Championship outfit Morton when Hibs blew a 2-0 lead, the Yorkshireman said: ‘We go in at half-time 2-2 and it should have been three or four to us — and that’s a reminder of what happens when you try to cheat on things, you’re not honest, you don’t do all the hard work.
‘So i am pleased we came through it and having watched the game back, we always should have but you are going to get punished for those sort of things.
‘We did so against rangers in the last 20 minutes. We had that spell at ibrox. The whole game wasn’t great but that was shocking, unacceptable defending and then, against Morton, that was a reminder again.
‘it was two lapses, two moments where because the game had got a bit easier we stopped tracking runs and you are just hoping the ball doesn’t get to him, hoping that he makes a mistake or he won’t finish.’
Hibs currently face a headache in defence, with centre-back Darren McGregor facing ‘several weeks’ on the sidelines with an abdominal injury sustained during last week’s betfred Cup tie.
The Leith club are also without Tom James, who suffered an ankle knock in the opening-day win at home to St Mirren, and ryan Porteous following his absence due to knee surgery.
Saints boss Tommy Wright admits he is running out of time to land reinforcements for his wafer-thin squad. The Perth boss is chasing a loan deal for rangers midfielder Jason Holt and he desperately wants chairman Steve brown to add a striker to his squad. Saints’ highprofile move to lure Stevie May back to Perth from aberdeen hit the rocks and Championship outfit Dundee pipped Wright to notts County attacker Kane Hemmings. ‘it’s another week gone past and we have no new players in,’ groaned Wright. ‘The club is fully aware of who i want in.
‘i know the club is working hard on targets, but it’s another week gone by and we haven’t managed to get anything done. Let’s hope we can get them because the next ten days before the window shuts will probably be the most crucial in my time at the football club.
‘We need players in. it is as simple as that.
‘There is usually a bit of a lull at this stage and there is always a flurry of activity late on. ‘Does that always work though? ‘i prefer to get my business done earlier but that hasn’t happened for one reason or another. but hopefully something will happen next week.’
Wright could be tempted to restore central defender Liam Gordon against Hibs at easter road but midfielder David Wotherspoon is still a week away from returning.
The Saints boss is chasing his first win of the campaign after crashing to Celtic and snatching a comeback point against Livingston.
‘it’s up to us to be better,’ he said. ‘We have only shown glimpses of our quality. Overall, the level of doing things right hasn’t been there. but there have been signs of encouragement.’