Harry Cochrane has turned down a new deal at Hearts and will leave the club this summer.
The talented midfielder burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old and scored a huge goal against Celtic as they stopped the Hoops unbeaten run under Brendan Rodgers.
But he’s struggled for game time over the last two seasons and spent much of that time away from the club on loan.
And he’s decided against staying at Tynecastle and will leave Hearts in June.
Robbie Neilson admitted it was a disappointing decision and he wanted to keep working with him, but understands Cochrane’s decision.
The 19-year-old made just one appearance for Hearts this season, and Neilson said: “Having been offered a contract extension Harry has informed us that he wants to try something new. Harry is a talented player that we would have liked the opportunity to further develop, however we have to respect his decision.
“Having been with the club for the past nine years we would like to wish Harry all the best for the future.”
Cochrane made 33 appearances for Hearts in total, and sporting director Joe Savage was also frustrated not to keep him.
He added: “We offered Harry a new contract because the potential is there, it always has been, and we want to see young players become success stories at Hearts.
“He’s decided go a different way and we respect that. Sometimes a fresh move is best for all concerned, that’s football, and nobody at the club has a bad word to say about Harry.
“From the club’s perspective we’ve done everything procedurally that you would expect in order to protect training compensation, and we plough ahead with developing existing talent and sourcing new players of all ages to come in and improve the team both short and long term.”
