‘Massive club’ Sheffield Wednesday rejected deadline day transfer bid for forward

The pursuit of Callum Paterson by Scottish Premiership side Hearts was no secret throughout a busy month in which the Jammies chose to conduct the chase of their former player in public.

It is believed two bids were made earlier the month – with a third arriving on January 31 as the Edinburgh outfit tested the Owls’ resolves with one last unknown bid.

Hearts sporting director Joe Savage made plain his efforts to sign Paterson and vowed to attempt the signing again in the summer, when the Scotland international’s current contract with Wednesday runs out.

A new deal to extend his time at S6 is not out of the question.

“It’s been well documented we had an interest in Callum Paterson,” he told BBC Sportsound. “We made another offer today [Tuesday] to get him. Sheffield Wednesday rejected it and we respect their decision. We’ve always said it’s about quality, not quantity. We wanted Callum but it never went through.

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“We’ll try to get Callum in the summer but let’s be honest, Sheffield Wednesday are a massive club. If they get into the Championship and Callum helps them get promoted then you never know. We’ll have an interest but we need to wait and see on that one.

“An injury helped him get back into the team and since then results have picked up. So it just so happens that injury has been our downfall with trying to get him. They don’t want to lose him, which is completely fair.”