How Beni Baningime is an example of Hearts' recruitment policy and why fans can expect more from the midfielder

Beni Baningime is an example of the type of talent Hearts are looking to attract under Robbie Neilson and Joe Savage.

Beni Baningime has been a revelation at Hearts. (Photo by Euan Cherry / SNS Group)

The midfielder has become an instant fan favourite at Tynecastle after a number of influential and impressive displays.

Recruited in the summer from Everton, Hearts have pulled off one of the coups of the summer.

With a number of young, talented players in England not getting regular football at Premier League clubs it’s an avenue which the club will use, bringing players in, strengthening the team and looking to sell them on for profit.

"It’s the nature of the game in England,” Neilson said. “It is very, very difficult to get into a Premier League first team. They are buying guys for £60-70million.

"There are a lot of players who are nearly there and Beni did really well when he was younger then he went out on a couple of loans.

"We’ve given him the platform to go and play and hopefully we will both get the benefit of it.”

Neilson added: “There are good players there, it’s just trying to convince them to come to Scotland which can be the difficulty.

“They think they'll stay Championship, stay League One, some of them will stay League Two. It's not until they actually come here they realise the size of the club and the standard of the league.

“We’re a club who want to develop young players. It's very early days but we have brought a number of players in that are young, hungry and will do well for the club and then move on and the next ones will come in.”

Baningime has adapted to Scottish football seamlessly but Neilson reckons there is still more to come from the 23-year-old.

“I've been really pleased with the way he has played,” he said.

"Firstly, I think he has fitted into the group really well and on the pitch he has been outstanding.

"We're only seven games in so he’s still developing as a player, a number of them are. It’s important he keeps doing what he’s doing on the training ground and that will reflect on the pitch.”

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