Robbie Neilson admits he can't see Hearts bringing back Ellis Simms for a second spell on loan.
The Everton hitman impressed during his time at Tynecastle as he helped the Jambos secure a third place finish in the Premiership and a spot in the Scottish Cup Final.
Simms scored seven goals in 21 appearances for Hearts including a cracker in the Edinburgh derby semi-final triumph over Hibs at Hampden.
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His form north of the border has alerted many English Championship sides with Neilson admitting a lot of clubs are watching the striker.
He told the Scarves Around the Funnel podcast: “I’d love to get him back and we’re trying to get him back, but if I’m being brutally honest, I don’t think we’ll get him back.
“There’s a lot of Championship teams in England that have contacted me asking about him. Obviously I’ve said he’s been terrible!
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"There’s a lot of teams that have been watching him and want to take him, so that’s where we are at the moment.
“We bring these guys in, give them a platform and try to progress them. Then if they do well, they move on again.
“We’d love to do it but I just don’t see it happening.
“I know we have (European football) but what they have is finances. We just made a small contribution to his wage.
"If he goes to the Championship. Someone can pay a much larger contribution or all of his salary. That’s what I can see happening.”
