St Johnstone’s Premiership survival hopes have been dealt a blow after the SFA sunk Simo Valakari’s bid to sign Finnish great, Roman Eremenko.
A hearing took place at Hampden on Tuesday to determine whether the 37-year-old would be able to progress to the work permit stage of the transfer process.
The panel ruled against Saints’ application, so the deal is now dead in the water.
Valakari had been hoping that the former £13 million man, who starred in the Champions League as well as on the international stage, would be a talismanic recruit as part of a January rebuild.
The former Dynamo Kiev and Spartak Moscow playmaker had his heart set on joining his fellow countryman in Scotland but that won’t be happening as there is no right of appeal.
It wasn’t all bad news delivered by the SFA panel.
Swedish midfielder, Jonathan Svedberg, was given the green light.
As with Eremenko, a deal has been in place with Saints since last week, and the 25-year-old will soon fly into the country to tick the necessary work permit boxes.
Speaking earlier in the day, Valakari expressed his hope that Svedberg will be able to hit the ground running at McDiarmid Park.
“Once Jonathan is here, he will be a player we think can help us straight away because there’s no time to waste.
“We will have to see because he’s been training by himself since November because the Swedish season was finished.
“The good thing is we don’t have midweek games so we will have a lot of opportunity to get him fit.
“I don’t think it will take long for him to be up to speed with match fitness.”
Duo ask to leave
Valakari has revealed that both Matt Smith and Cammy MacPherson have intimated they want to leave the club before the transfer window closes now that opportunities to play are likely to diminish.
Neither were in the match day squad last weekend.
“Matt and Cammy came to me and asked if they can explore some different options,” said Valakari.
“I have always said that I would never keep someone if they don’t want to be here.
“The talks we had were very good – they have a good attitude about it.
“They want to be playing matches and feel they might not get as much here as they need.
“That is understandable. They need to be playing.
“It wasn’t a case of me telling them I don’t want them and to go. They want to see what else is out there.
“There is no drama and, as always, we will try to find the best solution for them.”
McPake needs games
The situation with Josh McPake is different.
As far as the former Rangers forward is concerned, it was Valakari who initiated a conversation about what should happen in the second half of the season.
“Josh has a contract with us for next season, but he needs to play,” said Valakari.
“I took the initiative to speak to him and say that we need to see him playing somewhere for the rest of the season.
“Josh made an impact when he came on in matches, but I want to see him playing full games.
“He is still a young player so he needs as many minutes as he can. Hopefully we can find a solution for him.”
David Keltjens agreed to terminate his contract at the weekend and has returned home to Israel.
“David was a mutual decision for many reasons,” Valakari explained.
“We need to free up space and he wanted to go home for his own reasons, so it was no hassle.
“It was agreed quickly, and I wish him good luck.”
Conversation