Malachi Boateng leaves Hearts in a six-figure transfer deal

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Plymouth Argyle seal the midfielder’s return to England

Plymouth Argyle have signed Hearts midfielder Malachi Boateng in a late deadline-day deal. The English Championship side agreed an undisclosed six-figure transfer fee to take the player south just six months after he arrived at Tynecastle Park, and the deal went through in time to beat the 11pm deadline.

Boateng signed a three-year contract upon joining Hearts from Crystal Palace last August. Plymouth are bringing him back to England on a three-and-a-half-year deal hoping he will aid their fight against relegation to League One. They sit bottom of the table under the Austrian coach Miron Muslic, who was appointed in January.

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Muslic coached Cercle Brugge against Hearts in the UEFA Conference League last November before being sacked by the Belgian club the following month. He is an admirer of Boateng and got his man after Plymouth matched Hearts’ valuation of the 22-year-old.

Following 28 appearances for the Edinburgh club, Boateng left Tynecastle with the best wishes of head coach Neil Critchley. “We’ve enjoyed working with Mal these past few months,” Critchley told the Hearts website. “Similar to Daniel Oyegoke before him, this is a move that makes sense for all parties involved.

“Mal has an opportunity to continue his career down south and it’s a good deal for us, so we wish him well at Plymouth. We are happy with the work we have done during January as we now look forward to the next phase of the season in good form.”

Muslic explained why he wanted Boateng at Home Park. “Malachi provides further strength in depth to the squad but also fits the profile of player we are trying to sign perfectly,” he told the Plymouth website. “He is tall, athletic and physical and complements the style of play I am trying to implement here at Argyle. I want to welcome him to the club and look forward to him joining up with the squad.”

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Argyle’s head of recruitment added: “Malachi is a ball-winning defensive midfielder who will bolster Miron’s options. He adds athleticism and is also young and has loads of potential to develop and grow, and we believe he can do that under Miron’s leadership here at Argyle.”

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