Robbie Neilson finally secured long-term target Barrie McKay after years of chasing.
The Hearts boss has tried on numerous occasions to sign McKay for the likes of MK Dons and Dundee Utd but this week captured his white whale.
McKay penned a deal at Tynecastle on a free transfer and Neilson immediately told of his delight at getting it tied up.
And he went on to detail the fight he and his club had on their hands to land the former Rangers winger.
"I know Barrie well from his time at Rangers but also down south," Neilson told Edinburgh Evening News.
"I watched him a lot and tried to get him a few times when I was down south – and again when I came back up to Scotland. I’m just really pleased to get it done.
"We tried to get him in January and then we tried to get him at the start of the summer. He was still a Swansea player in January and we thought we could have got him up but we couldn’t do the deal.
“There was an option in his contract that Swansea could have taken him back again and loaned him out somewhere else. We didn’t trigger it but we enquired about it.
"Then he was leaving Swansea back in June and we tried again, so we’ve been working away on this for quite a while now.
"A number of other teams were interested in Barrie right through the window so we are delighted to get him.
“I see him as a game-changer. He’s got that pace and direct approach, he’s got that moment in him that can win you a game. It’s great for us to get a player like that on board.”
Neilson wanted more faces through the door but was content to wait until January after securing McKay.
The boss did not fancy a "short-term" fix so held off.
"We made a decision to keep an eye on things after the window closed,” Neilson added. “We tried to get Barrie before the window shut. Anybody else who was put to us wasn’t the one we wanted to bring in. It would have been a bit short-term so we decided to wait.
“We knew if we got Barrie we would be absolutely delighted but if we didn’t then we would wait until the January window.”
