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Joe Savage on the one Hearts signing that got away as former sporting director opens up on emotional Jambos exit
Former Hearts sporting director Joe Savage has admitted that he regrets not bringing Nicky Devlin to the club prior to the defender joining Aberdeen from Livingston.
Newly capped Scotland international Devlin signed a pre-contract with the Dons in May 2023 after his deal at Livingston expired, and officially made the move to Pittodrie in the following summer. Savage - who stepped down as the Jambos transfer supremo back in July - has revealed that the Gorgie club were also in the running to land Devlin, until a change in management at Tynecastle ultimately saw them miss out on the full back.
Speaking on the Open Goal podcast, Savage said: "That's a regret of ours, we should have signed Nicky at Hearts. I'm going on record here, but I am confident in saying that he would have came to us because of the location. Aberdeen is far away but they are a massive club. Robbie (Neilson) was all over him and wanted him.
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"It's not that Steven (Naismith) didn't want him, but we just didn't react quick enough. Robbie left and Steven came in and wanted time to work with the team and see how he wanted to play. And then bang, it was announced that Aberdeen had signed him (Devlin) on a pre-contract."
Savage also revealed that he broke down in tears after informing Hearts CEO Andrew McKinlay that he would be leaving the club after over three years in Gorgie. "I started crying", he stated. "There was relief when I told him: 'Andrew, time is up'.
"I didn't want to do it anymore. It was a brave decision as I was on a good salary and currently have no income at the moment. But do I regret it? Absolutely not. I 100 per cent know it was the right decision and I am in a much better place with my kids and my wife."
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