Hearts boss Neil Critchley has blasted the ‘unacceptable’ leak concerning Cammy Devlin’s release clause.
It was reported by one outlet on Friday morning that Devlin has a release clause worth £280k and that Portsmouth and New York City FC are interested in signing the Aussie midfielder.
An unhappy Hearts manager Critchley has now said the release clause figure is inaccurate, but slammed whoever leaked the information regardless.
He added that Hearts have received zero contact or had any awareness that other clubs are interested in signing the 26-year-old this month.
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Critchley on Devlin release clause leak
Speaking ahead of the Jambos’ trip to Aberdeen this weekend, Critchley said: “We’ve not had anything on Cam, so that’s the first I’ve heard of it.
“What I would say is certain information that has been leaked is unacceptable.
“Gossip and transfer rumours is one thing – but leaking information that should be confidential to a player, club etc. goes beyond the line and doesn’t help anybody.
“It wasn’t accurate anyway, but say in terms of Cammy being linked to other clubs, we’ve not had anything from any other club regarding Cammy.
“I’m not going to discuss players’ personal contracts, I won’t discuss your contracts with other people and I’m certainly not going to get into whether Cammy’s got a release clause. It’s not right.”
Critchley slams Hearts leak instigator
Critchley went on to say that whoever leaked the information about Devlin does not have the club’s best interest at heart.
The 46-year-old continued: “It doesn’t help in terms of signing players, retaining players. Whoever’s done that or wherever that’s come from, I wouldn’t class them as somebody who’s got the best interests at heart for Hearts Football Club.
“You can’t stop it. It’s the modern world unfortunately, people like to speculate and communicate. I don’t know where it’s come from, it’s out of my control, it doesn’t concern me. You can’t stop it.
“I say Cam’s been outstanding for us, fantastic and all you’ve got to do is see him train this morning and know that it’s business as usual.
“I’ve not spoken to Cam because this is the first time I’ve heard about it since I came back from training this afternoon. That’s the first time I’ve heard anything about Cam during his window.”