Craig Gordon battled his way back to being Hearts’ number one after months as Zander Clark’s understudy last season.
The veteran goalkeeper, just turned 42, spent around a year out after a nasty double leg break suffered against Dundee United in December 2022.
Many placed doubts on his future due to his age but he ignored all of that and battled back to fitness and availability for the Jambos last season.
However, he found Clark in inspired form as the Hearts first pick by that point and had to be content with a place on the bench to begin with.
Steven Naismith gave the Scotland keeper some chances last season but Clark remained the first choice at the start of this season.
However when the younger goalie suffered an injury, Gordon took his chance and has been in the side since.
We told yesterday how Gordon is reportedly 50/50 on his Hearts future while international retirement has been hinted at.
And it seems he may have come close to leaving LAST summer.
Gordon ‘wanted’ to leave Hearts for St Johnstone
Amid a frustration at playing second fiddle, Gordon was keen to reportedly get out to play games in the summer.
Ryan McGowan is a former player of both sides and claims he had heard the 42-year-old was keen on a switch to St Johnstone to play under his former manager Craig Levein.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound, he said: “I heard in the summer that he was a little but keen on going to St Johnstone.
“Obviously because Zander Clark was number one and Craig wanted to play.
“And having obviously worked with Craig Levein before, I was hearing strong whispers that was a viable option for St Johnstone.
“I don’t know how far down the road it went but I know that Craig was open to joining St Johnstone if that was to arise.”
What Gordon has said about his Hearts future
Both Hearts goalkeepers are out of contract at the end of the season and manager Neil Critchley gave his thoughts on the situation.
Gordon has also been quizzed and said: “There’s been no contract talks, it’s too early for that. We’ll have a discussion over the next few months but at the moment I’m happy to be doing everything I can to improve our situation.
“I didn’t envisage playing to this age, definitely not.
“This is absolutely a bonus stage of my career to still be here playing at this level. To play at Tynecastle was always my dream as a youngster so to still be doing that is incredible. I honestly can’t believe that I’m still doing it and still have that opportunity.
“All I can do is my very best for as long as I possibly can and we’ll see how long that is. But it’s got to be worth it, we’ve got to move up the table and finish the season as strong as we possibly can to put ourselves in a better position going forward.
“But it does make you reflect. It’s a new year starting and, from where I’ve come, especially over the last couple of years, and going back to Dundee United, I’ve come back from [my injury] and played another 30 to 40 games since. It’s an incredible achievement. Even going through the rehab, that was probably a high number to achieve.”