Toby Sibbick: Hearts tell Blackpool centre-half is not for sale
- Published
Toby Sibbick scored his first Hearts goal in Sunday's win over Hibernian
Heart of Midlothian have told Blackpool that Toby Sibbick is not for sale after rejecting an offer for the centre-half on Monday.
The Edinburgh club has also taken exception to quotes attributed to Blackpool manager Mick McCarthy suggesting they had not been honest.
A statement from Hearts criticised the "extremely disingenuous" comments reported via LancsLive, external.
Hearts state that the bid for Sibbick, 23, was "dismissed out of hand".
An offer, believed to be around £400,000, was lodged by the English Championship side, but Hearts insist Sibbick is "a much-valued part of our team".
McCarthy is quoted as saying: "We've been looking around at players and interested in players, but I wouldn't discuss transfers unless someone comes into the building, and then I'd say you'd know by then.
"I'm not quite sure they (Hearts) are being honest. Are they just trying to trigger somebody else to come in and offer more? I don't get that. Sometimes people say somebody has bid hoping they can get a bigger bid.
"They say somebody has made a bid, so it looks great to the club, the crowd and the fans that they're keeping him."
Hearts responded with a brief statement that included: "We can confirm that Blackpool submitted one bid for Toby on Monday, at 8.33pm, which was dismissed out of hand.
"Subsequently, Blackpool have been told that Toby, a much-valued part of our team, is not for sale.
"For anyone to suggest that we have been not been 'honest' about the situation is, in itself, extremely disingenuous.
"The club would prefer to conduct all transfer matters in private, but we will not sit back and let the good name of Heart of Midlothian be besmirched."
Sibbick is in his second spell at Tynecastle having signed permanently in January 2021 for an undisclosed fee from Barnsley after a previous loan.
He has played 44 times, all but 12 as starts, for the side sitting third in the Scottish Premiership.
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