The Hearts midfielder has attracted attention from big clubs in England.
He’s caught the interest of big name clubs - but Keir McMeekin is taking it in his stride as the promising midfielder showcased his talents at Hearts midweek.
The teenage midfielder scored and put in an impressive performance during an SFA Youth Cup quarter-final win over Hibs midweek. It came as it emerged last week that Hearts and Manchester City have agreed compensation over the midfielder, with an agreement now in place should the teenager sign a deal with them when he turns 16.
McMeekin is a Scotland internationalist at U17s level and performances have been lauded, stepping up to the senior environment on occasion this week and he played in a recent friendly with Dunfermline Athletic. Hearts youth coach, David McNeil, has worked with McMeekin this season and says the player has been able to focus purely on the pitch. All that will need adjusted is his schedule, as he goes between the academy and Derek McInnes’ senior fold.
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English Premier League heavyweights
McNeil told the Evening News: “Top talent, really good talent. Kerr played in the KDM game against St Johnstone and he showed that against first team lads there, so no doubt in Keir talent. Amazing (stepping up to first team environment), amazing for my learning as well. So Keir went and he was with the first team for say four weeks and he came back.
“Of course he's working in the gym, but the way he started protecting the ball, because he's had to against the bigger and stronger players, I seen a complete flip. So when he goes up to first team, the learnings he's taken just from playing against that level of player is massive for his development.
“Keir’s no bother, no bother at all. He loves football, he wants to train every day, he would be exactly the same as he is on Tuesday night as he would be playing five a side with his mates. He just loves football. He follows the PDP phase programme, which is the B team and the U19s are together. We need to manage his days off, because obviously we're sometimes off when the first team are in. But apart from that, no, he just gets on with it.”
Hearts progress in Youth Cup
When it comes to the cup, McNeil was delighted to see Hearts put learnings from this season together, as they reached the last four with a 3-0 win over rivals Hibs. The goal is now the final, McNeil adding: “That's the motivation in the changing room.
“I've felt that. I think everyone has im the focus levels of the boys going into this tournament They're laser focused. However, of course, we've got a game before that which we need to be ready for.
”We spoke to them before the game. Their journey this season, first team bounce game exposure, a lot of them played in the Lowland League. We've had the KDM Evolution Trophy and it's pulling all this together to then manage your emotions against your biggest rivals. It's really important because we know we've got the talent, but if we slipped up in terms of our mindset, then it could have hurt us.”
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