Kyle Lafferty had said he’d fancy a return to Hearts this summer following his Rangers departure.
The ex-Jambo left Tynecastle last summer for a second spell in Govan. The move didn’t go to plan, with Lafferty failing to hit top form whilst at Ibrox.
Lafferty struggled on his return to Ibrox, scoring just seven times. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Now he has said that he wants to stay in Scotland and that Hearts is the club he’d like to go to.
He told the Daily Record: “I’d like to stay in Scotland but I don’t know what to do. My preference would be to stay in the Premiership and my ideal move would be to go back to Hearts as I enjoyed my time there.
“I need to sit down and assess things and decide my next step. We’ll see what the next chapter is.”
Hearts have to grant Lafferty his wish after recent comments
Hearts are crying out for another forward. There’s an over-reliance on Steven Naismith. Last season he scored 14 goals, with ten in the league, despite missing a large chunk of the season through injury.
Naismith is relied upon heavily at Tynecastle. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
The combination of Uche Ikpeazu, Steve MacLean and Craig Wighton scored 4 goals in 51 games during Premiership action last term. In the striker department, if Naismith isn’t scoring, it’s unlikely anyone else is.
Lafferty would take some of the weight off the 32-year-old’s shoulder. Whilst there would be doubts over whether he could get firing like last time, beggars can’t be choosers at this point.
Craig Levein needs another prolific hitman. The likes of Ikpeazu and Wighton might not even reach a double figure goal tally. Lafferty scored 19 times the last time he wore maroon over the course of a season.
Lafferty was brilliant for Hearts last time out. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Lafferty’s a proven goalscorer. His time at Rangers didn’t work out, but Hearts won’t find many better strikers at this point in the transfer window. They should give Lafferty the chance to return to Gorgie.