Copil opts out of his unhappy Hearts stay

Darren Johnstone
MIDFIELDER Dumitru Copil – once dubbed the new Gheorghe Hagi – has quit Hearts and returned to Romania after failing to settle in Edinburgh.
Despite the Tynecastle club's attempts to persuade the 18-year-old to agree to the option of a new five-year deal after his initial two-year contract expired on 7 January, Copil flew home yesterday morning.

Copil arrived at Tynecastle in a blaze of publicity after turning down Celtic's advances to ink terms with Hearts in a £200,000 deal from Atletico Arad.

The winger was also named in a list compiled by World Soccer magazine as one of the top 50 most exciting teenagers in the game.

However, Copil's future at Hearts had been in doubt since he went awol at the beginning of last year when he returned to Romania to stay with his mother, Florica.

At the time, Copil reportedly said: "I didn't want to stay there anymore because there were more problems.

"I was adapting to life in Scotland but the problem was they never trusted me. They told me I was a good player but I never played for the first team and I only got a chance when there was a friendly. I was never noticed."

Although Copil did fly back to the Scottish capital following the stand-off, his stay proved to be temporary.

Confirming his departure, the player's representative Adrian Stefanescu said: "Hearts have released Dumitru and he is returning to Romania.

"Hearts wanted to keep him but he was not happy at all. I will be working hard to try and find him a club in his homeland as Dumitru wants to be close to his family."

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo, meanwhile, has told Gary Glen he is not guaranteed a start against Kilmarnock this weekend despite the striker's goal after coming on as a substitute in Sunday's Scottish Cup win over Hibs.

Glen, who has made four substitute appearances this season, is yet to start a game under Laszlo with the Hungarian admitting after the weekend's fourth-round tie that the youngster had a "big-time" attitude when he arrived to take over the reins during the summer.

Laszlo said: "Gary Glen scored a wonderful goal. But it is not enough to just shoot one goal – it is a long process to get into the team and then become a permanent player in the first team.

"I don't tell you who plays on Saturday but you don't score one goal and stay in the team forever."

Taken from the Scotsman