Kenneth Vargas messaged Hearts pal pleading 'can you please help me' after controversial interview

Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin says his teammate Kenneth Vargas asked him for “help” after his comments caught the ire of many fans.

Vargas, while on international duty with Costa Rica, gave an interview with ESPN where he spoke about wanting a better challenge than Scottish football and also revealed he would be open to a move away from the club in January. However, he soon released a statement on his Instagram to say he was misquoted.

Now, one of his teammates has come to his defence and says Vargas "loves" being at the club, despite what his comments may appear to suggest. Devlin also gave him the solution to his problems and told him exactly how to win back the support of the Tynecastle faithful.

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"I was in Scotland and he text me saying: 'Can you please help me, I've been misinterpreted'," Devlin revealed.

"It's obviously the language thing, I hadn't actually seen what the interview was. So I was messaging him back and forth and then saw the article. I just told Kenny, 'The only way you can win them back is by working your socks off, scoring a few goals and repaying it by doing that'.

"He's still a young kid and maybe whatever he said he shouldn't have said. But he's a lovely guy, and I can say hand on my heart that he loves being here. He loves coming out and we've got a really good rapport with him. I don't think he would have signed his five-year deal if he didn't love being here, so I know he wants to stay. Maybe he said a few things that, you know, were a bit naive and he probably regrets saying. But, yes, he's just a kid and I know he'll keep working hard.

"Hopefully the goals start falling for Kenny, and then he can win the fans over. But I can completely understand that misunderstandings can happen. I love him, he's a really good guy. You can't put any of your teammates to the side I know what it's like coming from the other side of the world and it's harder for him. Kenny doesn't speak English, even though the Scottish accent doesn't sound like English sometimes! You've got to put your arm around him.

"He's got no family here and he's just got to put his head down and work hard."