Hearts captain Christophe Berra is reportedly attracting interest from a ‘top club’ in the Bundesliga as the transfer window deadline moves ever closer, but perhaps the slightly more surprising news is that midfielder Michael Stewart is said to be the subject of a potential move to Italy.
Stewart has been the subject of some criticism from a large percentage of the Hearts support in recent months, with much of it coming in the shape of frustration, which tends to set in when fans watch a player who has talent perhaps not quite making the most of it.
While I do think that this guy gets far too much stick from the fans, especially when compared to others who don’t have half of the commitment to the cause that he does, there is no doubt that he can be frustrating, and that in both this season and last he has gone completely off the boil after a promising start. However I do hold out some hope that if he can get a regular game alongside Bruno Aguiar in the centre of the Hearts midfield, then he could turn that around and form a pretty formidable and creative partnership in there.
However it does sound as though there is genuine interest in Stewart’s services from Italy, although quite which level in that country he’d be going to is not certain. Csaba Laszlo did not confirm this entire story, but he didn’t completely deny it either when he said:
‘It is not a big secret that a scout from the Italian Premier League was here watching a midfield player. Their coach phoned me to tell me about the interest. The scout was there against Kilmarnock.’
As for Berra, many have been suggesting that Sunderland have been showing a very keen interest in taking the player south lately, with his former team-mate Craig Gordon no doubt having some sort of influence there. However nothing concrete has developed in relation to the Hearts captain to date, and now it would seem that if Sunderland are interested, then they’ll have competition from Germany. Csaba continued:
‘I know 100% the club in Germany has an interest. I am not the agent, but I know they have interest. If they come from the first Bundesliga then I am happy.’
Not quite sure about the ‘I am happy’ bit – presumably he means that if Berra does leave then it would soften the blow a little bit if he ends up making the move a worthwhile one by going to a genuinely top club, rather than an apparent move sideways just to make a quick extra buck or two.
There will no doubt be several more stories like this over the next few days – whether or not any of them come true is still anyone’s guess…
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I would rather keep Berra if we could and also I do think he needs to be careful and bide his time, but it might not only be down to him… Hmm about Stewart, my fear is that it isn’t Stewart, but Aguiar that the Italians are showing interest in, as all Csaba said was that they were at the Kilmarnock game… and I have to say (I know I am hard on Stewart a lot of the time) that this makes more sense to me (in regards to style of football and quality) but I rather see Stewart sold on then Aguiar. I base this on the team?s capacity to cope without Stewart when Csaba didn’t play him e.g., against Hibs versus the hole Aguiar seem to be able to fill when he comes onto the pitch. I respect Stewart immensely he can definitely produce some terrific football, but as I said before he seems to have a chip on his shoulder at times and this makes him less than reliable and far from consistent. Although, keeping both of them would of course be my preferred option:)!
Its very hard to imagine a top Italian club (or any top European club) showing any interest in Mr Stewart, given his poor ball control. So perhaps the club in question is 2nd division or something. No surprise that Berra is attracting interest. He’s turning into a strong, fast, dependable defender – and learning to to cope with the captaincy too.
Maybe it’s Lazio who are obviously mad given their reported interest in Boyd. I’d sell Stewart in a flash if this interest is genuine. The German club is Hoffenheim (according to my not hugely reliable sources) – currently top of the league.