Hearts boss celebrates Copil deal

Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas today claimed to have beaten Celtic to the signing of Romanian teenager Dumitru Copil.

Copil, 16, will move from Atletico Arad to Tynecastle on a two-year contract.

Ivanauskas is confident the playmaker will adapt to football in Scotland and predicted he would be “a good signing for us”.

Celtic had given Copil the chance to impress on a trial basis, and he had looked set to clinch a move to Parkhead.

Hearts reportedly upped their offer to the player, and Ivanauskas told the Edinburgh Evening News: “I think that this is a very good deal for us. He is just a young player but has very good prospects.

“Although he is a young boy a lot of other clubs were also interested in him and so we are very happy that he is coming to Hearts.

“We have wanted him for some time so we are very pleased, he will be a good signing for us.”

Copil has been dubbed the ‘new Gheorghe Hagi’ but Ivanauskas is reluctant to draw comparisons with the former Real Madrid and Barcelona player, who won 125 caps for Romania.

The Hearts boss added: “I know that some people have compared him to Hagi and we will have to wait and see how he develops but he definitely has quality.”