Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson insists Callum Paterson will not be sold on the cheap after the club rejected an undisclosed bid for the defender from Wigan Athletic.
The English Championship outfit, who are managed by former Scotland and Celtic defender Gary Caldwell, submitted the offer on Thursday evening but, following discussions at board level, Hearts dismissed the bid 12 hours later.
Paterson, who attracted interest from Rangers in 2012, is in the final year of his contract at Tynecastle and the Scotland cap appears unlikely to commit to a new deal.
Despite the prospect of losing the 21-year-old for nothing next summer, Neilson insists the club will not let Paterson leave for a fee that does not match their valuation of the player.
He said: “We certainly are not going to sell for the sake of it. Callum is one of our key players here and he’ll stay involved.
“He’s here and he’s my player at the moment. Until that changes, he’ll continue to be here working hard.”
On the prospect of Paterson signing fresh terms, Neilson, speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News, added: “It’s something we speak about but it’s still early days. We want to get this window shut and see where we are from there.”
Wigan manager Caldwell is keen to recruit Paterson, who made his Scotland debut in May’s 1-0 friendly defeat to Italy, to ease his defensive crisis after Donavon Daniels joined an injury list that includes Reece James, Andy Kellett and Kyle Knoyle.
Caldwell said: “It seems to be the injuries we’re picking up at the moment are all long term, and in similar areas at full-back.”
