Zander Clark has signed for Hearts on a three-year deal.
And manager Robbie Neilson admitted it’s a deal they've been working on it for a while. The Scotland international left St Johnstone at the end of his contract in the summer after helping the Perth club retain their Premiership status after a playoff final win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Aberdeen and Dundee United were also linked with the keeper, although he opted to explore options south of the border. Those didn't result in a transfer, and now he finds himself back in the Scottish top flight with the Jambos as he doubles their contingent of international goalkeepers. Craig Gordon will remain the undisputed number one, but Clark will afford Neilson the luxury of picking and choosing when to rest the 39-year-old as the Tynecastle club compete domestically and on the continent. Ross Stewart and Harry Stone round out a strong pool of keepers in Gorgie.
Gordon will start to wind down at some stage and the length of deal Clark has penned suggests that there’s a long term plan in place for him to take over the gloves when the time is right. For now though, Neilson is just delighted to have so much talent to call on between the sticks.
“We’ve been working away on this one for a while so I’m delighted to get it over the line,” he said. “I’m sure our fans will know all about Zander’s abilities having seen him feature against us for St Johnstone over the years, so it’s great to be able to bring him here to Hearts.
“We look for quality players and that’s what we’ve got in Zander. He’ll provide competition to Craig Gordon and Ross Stewart which will, ultimately, raise the quality of performances in our squad.”
Sporting director Joe Savage added: “Zander’s quality is obviously known to everyone and because of that we’ve had to be patient in bringing him in due to the options that were available to him, but we’re delighted that he’s chosen us.
“He’s always shone for St Johnstone, particularly when he helped them to a cup double, he always stood out so have him here providing competition in our goalkeeping department is great news.
“It’s another example of us using the free agent market wisely. Such is the nature of Scottish football, we can’t go out and spend millions of pounds on players so the free agent market is very important to us.
"We got Barrie McKay a week after the deadline closed last season, and look at how well he’s turned out. The hope is that if Zander is called upon then he can make the same kind of impact, and we’re all sure that he will.”
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