Hearts ‘gave Craig Gordon blank cheque to reject Celtic’ – Vladimir Romanov

Romanov claims the trio had previously been offered deals by Celtic and wanted to move to the Glasgow club along with manager Burley and two other players – Rudi Skacel and Roman Bednar.

Pressley and Hartley did eventually join Celtic, but Romanov claims he told Gordon: “Your contract is running out and I know Celtic has made you an offer, but you’ll end up being their second-choice goalkeeper, not the first.

“If you stay and sign with us, I promise you’ll play in the English league. He laughed, not taking me seriously. So, I said, ‘If you don’t believe me, here’s a blank contract. Write down the amount you want.’

“Gordon wrote down a very large sum – something unheard of at Hearts and all of Scottish football. I looked at it, signed it, and handed it back. That’s how we managed to keep him.”

Romanov claims he had a buyer lined up for Gordon at the end of the season with “a rough valuation” in mind for the then 24-year-old.

“Gordon had incredible abilities, but he required a very careful approach,” he said. “Psychologically, he was weak – if things didn’t go well, he’d get physically sick, sometimes even vomit.

“He needed delicate handling. Despite all that, he was an exceptionally talented player. Ultimately, I sold him for £9m – at the time, it was the highest fee ever paid for a goalkeeper in Britain.”

Hearts say Gordon, who returned to Hearts in 2020 after eventually joining Celtic, did not wish to comment on Romanov’s claims.

Burley and Hearts “mutually agreed” to part ways in October 2005 despite the side sitting unbeaten at the top of the Scottish league table, but Romanov claims that “even a housewife” could have achieved those results “under my leadership”.

He claimed that Burley “had a heavy drinking problem” and “ran away” when told he could stay in charge if he tackled that problem.

Burley’s assistant at the time, Simon Hunt, disputed Romanov’s claims about the manager’s drinking.