Being based in Edinburgh, I’m in the fortunate position of having seen Triantis play a couple of times this season, against Rangers, and Celtic in February where he stood out as one of the best players on the pitch.
He is an exciting talent. He hasn’t played in the position for which we acquired him, but he has excelled as a defensive midfielder. As soon as I mention that I support Sunderland to a Hibs fan, the conversation quickly turns to how much they want to keep Triantis for themselves. I was even told by a cabbie that Hibs had lined him up to be unveiled along with their third kit this season - whether that is wishful thinking or not remains to be seen.
If we were still in the Championship, I would be excited about seeing him slot neatly into place in August. I don’t think he’s ready for the Premier League yet, though.
I’d like to see him out on loan again, either to the Championship or even getting some European football with Hibs next season. I rate him very highly, though, and if the reports are true that he wants to prove himself here, I hope he succeeds.
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**Calum Mills says…**
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He’s allegedly come out and stated he wants to fight for his place in the team — which should be welcomed by the club’s management.
He came back from an excellent season north of the border, and was voted as Hibernian’s ‘Young Player of the Season’ as well as being a crowd favourite.
We signed him as a centre back but you can now argue his best position is as a defensive midfielder and with his nickname being the ‘Aussie Rodri’, he’s definitely got to be worth a look at in midfield during pre-season.
We’re back in the Premier League now and we know how tough a league this is. Strength in numbers could be key, especially with AFCON midway through the season, so he may be the man to come in to do a job in place of Habib Diarra or Noah Sadiki.
He definitely faces stiff competition for a starting position with Dan Neil likely being favourite for that deep-lying role, as well as Enzo Le Fée being another alternative.
Pre-season will likely determine the future of our Australian star but should we end up selling him, I’d expect him to fetch nothing less than £5 million.
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**John Wilson says…**
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Triantis is a difficult one, as most of us won’t have seen exactly how well he played north of the border and even then, there are those who’ll think that the Scottish Premier League doesn’t equate at all to the English Premier League.
That said, it looks as though Hibernian are very keen to keep him for their European adventures next season.
As fans, we have to trust in the club to do the right thing. They’ll know how well he performed last season as well as watching him in his ‘new ‘ role, and they’ll also know which bits of our jigsaw they still need to complete a full picture.
I’d personally put him ahead of all of our current fringe players, so unless Hibs are offering very good money (£3 million plus?), I’d be inclined to keep him and monitor him until at least the January window.
We have many players we need to clear from our books — I don’t see Nectar as one of those.