Hearts have hit back at Barnsley’s claim for compensation over Daniel Stendel, insisting it has “no basis”.
Stendel was confirmed as the club’s new manager on Saturday after a drawn out process following the sacking of Craig Levein.
The English Championship club are taking legal action against the Jambos in order to try and force them to cough up the money they claim they are owed after relieving the German of his duties at Oakwell in October.
They have since revealed in a statement that they removed Stendel from his position after he spoke to a rival club in the same division without permission, whilst also attempting to persuade members of his backroom staff to join him.
After taking expert legal advice, Hearts are dismissing Barnsley’s argument that Stendel remains under contract with them, and are confident that they won’t be required to pay a penny to the South Yorkshire club.
The Premiership club have left the matter in the hands of their lawyers but have assured fans that any action from the Tykes designed to try and force the club in to paying is “entirely without merit”.
A club statement read: “We are aware of the statement released by Barnsley Football Club earlier today in relation to our appointment of Daniel Stendel to the post of first team manager.
“On behalf of the board of directors of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, we would like to reassure our supporters that we have followed all proper procedures in appointing Daniel Stendel.
"He was not an employee of Barnsley Football Club when we first consulted him and there is no basis on which Heart of Midlothian Football Club is liable to Barnsley Football Club.
"Misleading reports and statements to the contrary elsewhere are entirely false. Should any claim be commenced against Heart of Midlothian Football Club, it will be defended in the strongest possible terms.
“We are looking forward to supporting Daniel in what we hope will be a long and successful tenure at Heart of Midlothian. Given that we consider any threatened claim to be entirely without merit, we do not propose to comment further on this matter.”
Stendel touched down at Edinburgh Airport yesterday ahead of beginning work at Tynecastle ahead of his first match in charge against St Johnstone at the weekend.
The German revealed he's excited to take on the challenge of propelling the club up the table.
Stendel said: "I’m excited and delighted to be here.
"It’s a good opportunity for me and I'm looking forward to my time with Hearts."
