Sevco give up on Michael O’Halloran
After weeks of hype surrounding two derisory offers for the St Johnstone star Mark Warburton is ready to admit defeat as the reality of his transfer war-chest becomes apparent.
Promises of over investing and bringing in players to challenge for the Premiership title have been cast aside with Warbo left to chase promotion with the squad of players he assembled during the summer.
King joins January signings Harry Forrester and Maciej Gostomski but none are likely to be offered long term deals.
Tellingly in the official statement announcing King’s arrival there is no comment from Warbo welcoming the Tynecastle wonder kid.
After stepping up to the top flight 21-year-old King has started just seven Premiership matches with Robbie Neilson happy to allow the winger to return to the Championship to get some match practise.
The Hearts boss said: “Billy’s at a stage where he’s looking for regular game time, and that’s not something that we can guarantee at the moment.
“We’re fortunate to be in the position where we’ve got an abundance of options on the wing. Sam Nicholson and Jamie Walker – who’s almost at full fitness – are two of the best young players in the country and are being pushed all the way by Arnaud Djoum and Prince Buaben.
“The emergence of Dario Zanatta has given us even more options in there, so it makes sense for Billy to go out on loan to continue his development.
“He’ll get a run in a team that is pushing for a title, so it will benefit him in the short term and Hearts in the long run, when he comes back an even more confident player.”
King isn’t eligible to play in the Scottish Cup after appearing as a substitute for Hearts against Aberdeen.
On January 16 an upbeat Warbo claimed: “I think we are very close to a couple of players, very close. A lot of work has gone on in the background and hopefully we will get our work over the line in the coming days.”
Last week Leeds United splashed out £300,000 to sign Toumani Diagouraga from Brentford after the London club rejected a £100,000 bid from Ibrox. Earlier this season Warburton wasn’t given the backing to sign Scott Allan or John Eustace.
Asked today if he expected to retain O’Halloran St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright said: “I’m very confident, there have been no further bids from Rangers, so he’s still our player.”