Hearts chief Joe Savage has confirmed that the capital club have held initial transfer talks with mercurial former Rangers winger Barrie McKay.
McKay, who scored 20 goals and notched 39 assists for the Gers in 140 appearances between 2012 and 2017, is a free agent after being released by Swansea City at the end of last season.
He’s been looking for a new club for several months and a return to Scotland could be on the cards.
The Edinburgh Evening News reported on Wednesday that Hearts were keen on the 26-year-old and now the interest has been confirmed by Savage.
“We’ve had initial conversations with Barrie,” he said [Scottish Sun]. “He’s a very good footballer. We feel he’s someone who would improve us.”
“We’ve spoken with his agent and he’s got interest from England as well so we’ve not made any contract offer or anything like that.
“We’ve just had initial discussions and we’re waiting for Barrie to come back to us to see where he’s at. He is a player that’s been put to us and he’s a player we like.”
McKay was popular amongst the fanbase at Ibrox, particularly after his famous screamer against Celtic at Hampden in the 2016 Scottish Cup semi-final.
The club received around £500,000 for him from Nottingham Forest in 2017 [BBC Sport], a not inconsiderable fee, but he never quite managed to kick on in the EFL.
Clearly, Tynecastle talks are still at an early stage, and other clubs are interested, but a move back to the Premiership may well be exactly what he needs to get his career back on track.
Meanwhile, a player released by Rangers in June may be forced to turn out for a club his agent said he had no interest in playing for again.
