Kazakhstan club criticises Hearts after ‘cheap’ bid for star winger
Heart of Midlothian has been charged with attempting to purchase Kazakhstani star Islam Chesnokov at a discount after the sports director of his club stated that they would transport him to Scotland provided they paid the asking fee.
The 25-year-old wide player has been linked to a move to Tynecastle, but Hearts manager Neil Critchley cautioned this week that the transaction was not yet finalized.
However, FC Tobol, his club in Kazakhstan, has spoken out against the move and states that they are unhappy with Hearts’ strategy.
Sanzhar Seitkazinov, the club’s sports director, stated: “Hearts wants Chesnokov almost for free. We don’t think this is acceptable.
“The team will not be able to replace Islam with another Kazakhstani player because he is a top-tier Kazakhstani football player.
“If he departs, an international player will assume this role. Not a single Kazakhstani player in a comparable role would be of a lower caliber than Islam.
“Giving him away for nothing is wrong because the club made an investment in his growth. If at all feasible, we urged Hearts to return with another offer.
We would have taken him to Scotland ourselves if the £500,000 that has been reported had actually been offered, according to the club’s stance!
Islam’s career is not something we wish to impede.However, he also has good offers from Russian teams.
But instead of Russia, Islam would prefer to try himself in Europe.We are not requesting incredible sums of money.
