Hibs manager Lee Johnson doesn't think Ryan Porteous' contract has been 'bumped up' quick enough as he enters his final 12 months.
The centre-back's stock rose midweek as he shone on his Scotland debut during a 0-0 draw with Ukraine. Johnson loves working with Porteous but admits his current terms at Hibs don't fall into line with what he should be getting. He reckons the Easter Road board now need to offer him a big contract to persuade him to avoid joining other clubs and commit his future to the team he's made his name at.
Johnson explained: "We’ll have to offer him a very strong deal, he has been at the club a long time, potentially hasn’t been - in my opinion, bumped up quick enough to maintain the importance of the players. That’s where we’ve put ourselves at risk a little bit and have to try to remedy that.
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"If someone has come and bought you, then everybody wins and that’s what we’re trying to get to the point that we don’t want Hibs to lose out through maybe not planning as well as we could have two, three, four, five, six years ago.
“I’ve been there as a player, I’ve been up here playing and had clubs come in for me when I was down south. Is the grass always greener? Will you be on big money but then not get the opportunity?
"We want players who have done well, getting international honours - we don’t want to undercut them. We want to show the academy this is what you can do and earn as long as you’ve produced for the football club. Ryan is right at the top end of that.”
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