Hibs chief Rod Petrie today revealed his delight at the return of prodigal son Derek Riordan to Easter Road, and also just how long the club had tracked the player.
The Hibees landed the striker in a £400,000 deal from Celtic, just before the closure of the summer transfer window.
Petrie has revealed his delight at the return of the 25-year-old prolific goal scorer, the Hibees chairman said:
"It is not the biggest transfer fee we have ever paid, but you cannot underestimate that the signing of Derek was a very significant statement of intent from the football club.
"Derek was a very prolific goal scorer when he was here and hopefully once he gets fully fit he can recapture that form.
"It is a player the manager wanted, and the board managed to go about our business and deliver a player that the manager wanted. That is what we are about. The transfer fee is part of it and the commitment to the player is another important part of it.
"Derek is delighted to be back, the supporters are delighted and the manager is delighted too.
"It took a fair time. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment panic decision at the end of the transfer window. Derek was one of a number of players that we had identified and had aspirations to see if we could do something at the right time.
"We made an enquiry which was initially rebuffed but we persevered and managed to do a deal a couple of hours before the transfer window closed."
The Hibs chairman also revealed his thoughts on the rumours that fierce Edinburgh rivals, Hearts, tried to snatch the player from under the Hibees noses, he said:
"I don't know how real or otherwise that (Hearts' interest) was.
"I can only deal with the people I was talking to. I never had any conversations with Hearts about whether they were interested in the player or not.
"My conversations were with Celtic, until such time as I got permission to speak to the player.
"I believe Romanov is an admirer of the player. Derek is a talented player, the young player of the year the season before he left us. Every team would be delighted to have him, we are delighted to have him and he is delighted to be here."
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