Why 'clarity' on future of Hibs star Boyle is vital as manager David Gray hails evergreen goal threat
Easter Road favourite second only to Celtic great Daizen Maeda on 2025 goals chart
Hibs boss David Gray admits he’d like “clarity” on Martin Boyle’s future as the stand-in skipper heads into the closing months of his contract. And the Easter Road gaffer has hailed the evergreen threat of a player who has only been outscored by a Celtic superstar during 2025.
Boyle had a one-year extension on his deal triggered towards the end of last season, rewarding the veteran striker for his form as Hibs climbed from the foot of the table to finish third with a game to spare. The 32-year-old, who is half a dozen goals shy of entering the all-time top ten goal scorers for the club, insists there have been “no plans” to talk about his future.
Gaffer hails ‘constant threat’ of veteran striker
Asked about his former team-mate’s situation, Gray said: “Naturally, the conversations start to happen, not just with Boyle, but anyone who's out of contract. With the window coming up, players going into their last six months, naturally you want to have the conversations to find out exactly where they'll land.
“You want clarity from both sides. I think that's important.
“But also as you go into the window, the club's always looking to try and finish the window in a stronger position than you start. So the work's been going ongoing.
“I think, and you can see with the way Martin Boyle's playing at the moment, it’s been good to see him back on amongst the goals a bit more in the last few weeks. But the biggest thing, one thing I've always said about Boyle is he's a constant threat all the time.
“He's probably, in his own admission, not been as clinical on certain occasions this season. But he's certainly a huge threat and always willing to put himself in the positions.
“He's been very successful at his football club and a mainstay for a long time and always delivered - and knows what it’s all about to play in the Edinburgh derby. So he's very valuable for what he brings us.
“It's good to see him back on amongst the goals. Hopefully he can take confidence from that and keep moving forward.”
Only one player has scored more Scottish Premiership goals than Boyle in 2025, with Daizen Maeda hitting the net 18 times to the Hibs star’s 17 – including five league goals this season. That, says Gray, is proof that he’s still delivering.
World Cup incentive for Socceroos star
Explaining how the prospect of getting to the World Cup with Australia next summer was driving his stand-in skipper to consistently produce, Gray said: “I think it's huge. He's always had little targets.
“If you think about last season, the target to try and get so many appearances, so many goals, 100 goals for Hibs. He's now chasing down a place in the top 10 scorers for Hibs.
““He's also, at this moment in time, I think in the whole calendar year, there's only been Daizen Maeda who has scored more goals than him in this calendar year.
“He added another one at the weekend. As I said, he's been very effective for this football club for a very long time. He's constantly setting himself new targets to improve all the time.
“I think that's why he is successful. Rightly so, he's got that carrot of the World Cup at the end of the season to try and get towards.
“He knows that if he's delivering here and playing to a high standard and scoring goals, that he's got a real opportunity to go and do that at the World Cup. I think that's probably all the motivation he needs as well at this stage in his career.”