Armand Gnanduillet has broken his silence over the "funny" Hearts rumours that had some fans thinking he was about to walk out on the club.
Chatter over the Ivorian striker walking around in a supposed strop without his boots drove a rumour that the Jambos and Robbie Neilson were about to cut ties with the big striker.
But as the club have climbed the Premiership in their first season back, Gnanduillet has remained involved with some positive cameo appearances off the bench and a well-taken strike at Dundee United, even if he can't displace top scorer Liam Boyce in the starting line-up.
And the frontman grinned as he told the Edinburgh Evening News his real, less dramatic version of events.
Gnanduillet said: "This story was funny. Anybody can tell a story about something they saw but they don't really know what happened.
"We had a (bounce) game and I had new boots, so I just took my boots off as I walked off because my feet were sore.
"The manager told me before I would play 60 minutes and he was at the game.
"I was laughing when I saw the stories but it just went over my head.
"I’m good here. We have good facilities, the city is great, we are doing well. The only thing missing for me is putting the ball in the net.
"The striker position is very hard. One day you can be the king and the next you miss a tap-in so you are nobody. I know this. I’m happy. I have food and water at home. I know life is hard for some people. I’m playing football. That’s nothing.
"What people say about me doesn’t bother me to be honest. I just need to focus on what I do well, which is playing football and scoring goals."
