Rangers were linked with Alexandros Tziolis earlier this week – but those links have been shot down.
Ian Cathro (L)
Hearts manager Ian Cathro has told The Scottish Sun that he was in the room when Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha spoke to midfielder Alexandros Tziolis.
Hearts travelled to Ibrox to take on Rangers on Saturday afternoon, and whilst Esmael Goncalves had equalised after Joe Garner’s opener, Barrie McKay handed the Gers all three points in a 2-1 win for Caixinha’s men.
The result continued Hearts’ unconvincing form under Cathro, and one rumour coming out of Saturday’s game with Rangers attracted great interest.
The Daily Record reported that Rangers boss Caixinha held talks with Hearts midfielder Alexandros Tziolis after the final whistle, in a bid to reunite at Ibrox this summer.
Tziolis, 32, played for Panathinaikos during Caixinha’s time as their assistant manager, and it was claimed that the Rangers boss wanted to sign former Greece international Tziolis to boost his squad this summer.
Alexandros Tziolis (R) in action for Panathinaikos against Rangers
Caixinha later told the club’s official YouTube channel that he did speak to Tziolis, but purely on a professional level having worked together previously, claiming that rumours over a transfer were ‘pure rubbish’.
Now, Hearts boss Cathro has offered his account of events, revealing to The Scottish Sun that he was actually in the room when Caixinha and Tziolis spoke, noting that it would have been ‘awkward’ if transfer talks had taken place in front of him.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
Cathro added that their meeting was ‘normal’ as the pair simply decided to have a catch up after years apart, with his denial over the transfer talks surely putting an end to any rumours of Tziolis heading to Glasgow this summer.
“That in itself would have been very awkward because I was in the room at the time, and I was also drinking Portuguese wine,” said Cathro. “So it would have been quite an awkward situation if that was true.
“I know they worked together before, it’s just a normal thing where you work around the world in different places you build and you leave friendships and it is always nice to catch up. That’s what they were doing and I got a glass of wine out of it as well,” he added.
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