Gavin Becomes Second Summer Capture

Following on from the signing of defender Blazej Augustyn, striker Gavin Reilly has become Robbie Neilson’s second capture of the summer.

The prolific forward scored 15 times for Queen of the South last season as they finished fourth in the Championship and he has moved to us on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract with them, but owing to the fact he is 22 years old, we do have to pay a development fee to the Doonhamers.

He comes into Tynecastle signing a three year deal and he has now joined pre season training ahead of the coming Premiership campaign.

Speaking to the Official Site after capturing the player, Neilson explained.

‘I`m delighted to get Gavin onboard here at Hearts. He scored 15 goals last season in the Championship and now he`s stepping up into the Ladbrokes Premiership with Hearts and I`ve no doubts that he can develop into an excellent player. He`s a hard worker, a good finisher and he makes runs over the top which will allow us to press really high up the pitch as well.’

Neilson goes on to say that having spoken to him he knows just how desperate he is to improve himself as a player and make it at this level and those are the exact qualities he wants in players.

‘You want players who have got that hunger and from having spoken to him a couple of times you can tell he`s desperate to progress his career and he sees Hearts as a good opportunity for himself. We see an opportunity to develop him. He`ll be coming to a club with really good facilities and he`ll be training more often than he has in the past. Stevie Crawford will give him some really in-depth coaching in the striking department, which will really progress him.’

Reilly comes to us as a one club man so far in his career and during his time at Queen of the South he has made a total of 82 starts, with a further 52 from the bench, scoring 43 times which is no bad record at all.

Speaking himself after penning the deal, Reilly explained that he knew competition at the club would be good in the coming campaign so it’s up to him to impress now and make sure he gets that starting berth in the coming weeks.

“It was a wee bit overwhelming; a club the size of Hearts being interested in me, it`s brilliant. Credit to myself for the performances I was putting in last season, hopefully I can do the fans justice and the club justice for coming to sign me.”

He went on to add that Neilson had already talked about his pace and workrate so he knows they will be key next season for him as he looks to make the step up, and with the right workrate hopefully his goalscoring touch will continue and be equally as impressive.

“Hopefully I can use those skills and talents and bring them here. He`s told me I`m not going to play every game but hopefully I can work hard and try and play every game. Hopefully I`ll get a good pre-season under my belt to begin with and who knows what will happen?”