Gillingham reveal plans for Hearts midfielder Olly Lee as loan deal nears an end

Hearts midfielder Olly Lee is nearing the end of his loan agreement at Gillingham

Gillingham manager Steve Evans wants to keep Hearts midfielder Olly Lee on loan until the end of the season. He is waiting to hear whether the Edinburgh club will recall Lee, whose loan agreement expires on January 27.

New Hearts manager Daniel Stendel has yet to confirm if he wants the player back at Riccarton despite retrieving several youngsters from loans at lower-league Scottish sides. Harry Cochrane, Anthony McDonald, Connor Smith, Alex Petkov, Lewis Moore, Rory Currie and Leeroy Makovora all rejoined their parent club earlier this week.

Lee’s immediate future remains uncertain. The 28-year-old has played 25 times and scored four goals for Gillingham since joining the English League One club on loan last August. His Hearts contract expires in summer 2021 and they have the right to bring him back this month should they wish.

“We have no option. Hearts are his parent club,” Evans told the Evening News. “Quite respectfully, if they decide Olly is going back then we will shake his hand and wish him well. If they ask us whether we would like to extend the loan, then I would like to but I would obviously need to run it past my boss. It’s all in the hands of Daniel. I would think he will know now.

“The loan finishes on the 27th but I think it will be done sooner than that, one way or the other. If they want Olly, I would assume that recall happens now. I’m not Daniel Stendel but if I was and I was bringing a player back, I’d want him back under my roof ready to play when the games start again. The later they leave it would probably suggest they aren’t going to take him back.”

Former Hearts manager Craig Levein had agreed with Lee that the midfielder could leave Tynecastle Park last summer. He had been omitted from the starting line-up at times during the second half of last season and then suffered a knee injury in the final league game.

Evans took him to Kent on loan and since then Lee has worked hard to cope with the relentless match schedule in England’s lower leagues. “In some games he has been very good and in others he hasn’t been,” said Gillingham’s Glasgow-born manager. “I think a big reason for that is that he was out for a long time last season with his injury and different things. We are still working on the rehabilitation side of things with him, making sure we take him off it one or two days a week. We need to make sure he’s right.

“He has done fine overall. If he went back up the road it wouldn’t break us but he is firmly established in the dressing room now. It would be good for us to keep him. He has done well for us and he is still working hard to get completely 100 per cent fit so he can go into games every three or four days like we play down here.”

Evans stated he is relaxed whatever Hearts do with Lee. The Englishman would continue to play regularly at Gillingham if he remained there. His parent club are expected to make their intentions clear one way or the other after Stendel replaced Levein in the manager’s office almost five weeks ago.

“Olly has been fine. He hasn’t been exceptional but he has been in the team more weeks than not. He has been involved in a good spell for us, but I don’t have an idea what the manager at Hearts will do,” said Evans. “They have just said to us that the manager is going to have a look at things. We are fairly relaxed whatever Hearts do. I know they are on a mid-season break at the minute but I would think they will also be working to get their squad ready. We expect to hear in due course.

“I think Olly saw his move to Hearts as a great move at the time. He went up and enjoyed it and he loves the city, although it’s like any player. If you aren’t playing football, you should want to go somewhere and play. He wanted to get out and play if he wasn’t going to be part of it. I’m not so sure if he will be the Hearts manager’s cup of tea but I don’t make that judgment. He has to make it with the people at Hearts.”