Beaming Beni Baningime reveals three factors behind new Hearts deal as Steven Naismith 'very hard to say no to'

Beni Baningime has opened up on the three big factors behind is decision to sign a new Hearts contract. Manager Steven Naismith was a big one.

The Congolose midfielder put pen to paper this week to keep him in maroon until the summer of 2026. There had been fears the 25-year-old was set to move away on a free transfer, following in the footsteps of John Souttar as being a key member of the squad leaving for nothing.

So fans were delighted to hear Baningime had committed himself to the club for longer ahead of another European group stage campaign. Naismith was no different and as the player has now explained, the manager was one of the main reasons behind him wanting to stay.

Speaking to Hearts TV ahead of facing Rangers, he said: "I'm happy to get it done. It took a while but I'm a thinker and I've got a lot people in terms of my family. But when we made the decision it was a great moment for our family. I'm very happy to be signed."

Baningime missed the previous Conference League campaign through injury and admits it was a factor in his decision, but not the biggest one.

He explained: "100 per cent but I think the biggest factor was the boys and the staff and the club itself. Next season is going to be harder playing Thursday-Sunday and we need to make sure the performances in the league aren't affected. But that's the challenge. That's what the best teams do, the teams that are always in Europe find a way to be consistent in the league and also push in Europe."

Asked how big an influence Naismith was, he added: "Huge. He called my my mum and dad and when a gaffer makes that much of an effort to give you the vision of what he wants to do it's very hard to say no. I was very happy about that and my family was very happy."