Hearts mull over next move after suffering transfer blow

Macedonian side FK Vardar have told the Tynecastle outfit that they have no intention of selling the Ugandan winger after they revealed that a bid of around £300,000 was rejected,

Rogers, 22, started all three of Uganda’s matches at the Africa Cup of Nations and has attracted interest from Hearts after scoring 12 goals for his club in the first half of the season. He also found the net at AFCON during a 3-1 defeat by Nigeria.

Vardar currently sit top of the Macedonian First League and are keen to hold on to their talisman as they bid to win their first title in six years.

A statement from them read: “FK Vardar received an offer to sell player Kassim Rogers Mato from the Scottish team Hearts, in the amount of €350,000, which was rejected without hesitation.

“The management and coaching staff of FK Vardar aim to win both titles in the Macedonian championship, as well as a more convincing performance in the next European competitions. So there was almost no thought about selling the top scorer in the league with 12 goals scored in the past half-season.

“Kassim Rogers Mato is fully recovered from the injury (fractured foot), due to which he was absent from several matches, and we expect him in full form at the beginning of the second part of the 1.MFL season.”

Hearts will now weigh up whether they will up their bid to FK Vardar for Mato or explore other options in the transfer market.

They have already added Dutch right-back Jordi Altena and Kazakhstan international winger Islam Chesnokov this month but manager Derek McInnes was coy, when asked at a press conference on Wednesday, about any further plans to bolster his squad.

“The January window’s not normally a window where you should be looking for the fundamentals,” he said. “The work should be done by now and we feel as though the work’s been done.

“We are looking for those support players that can maybe help us add something a bit different. Anything else we can bring to the table, we have to look at.”