Ipswich Town centre-back Christophe Berra is ‘desperate’ to re-join his former club Hearts and could be swapped for Scottish international right-back Callum Paterson, according to a report in the Scottish Sun.
Berra, 31, has started 156 out of 165 Championship games since being reunited with his former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy, as a free transfer from Molineux, in the summer of 2013.
Hailed by many as the second-tier’s best defender just 18 months ago, the 34-cap Scotland international’s form has dipped of late. His contract expires in the summer, but Town hold the option of extending it by a further year.
Berra admitted last September that he would like to return to his native Edinburgh at some point to be nearer his four-year-old daughter. McCarthy said last month that reports in the Edinburgh Evening News that Berra was looking to negotiate a settlement of his contract were ‘ridiculous’.
This latest report says Town are willing to allow him to return to Tynecastle if Paterson were to move in the opposite direction, despite the fact that the 22-year-old, whose contract is up in the summer, had surgery on a cruciate ligament injury last week and faces a spell of 10 months on the sidelines.
Prior to suffering the injury at the end of December, Paterson had turned down new terms with Hearts and was said to be keen on a move to England with West Ham reportedly set to make a move.
Born in London but brought up near Edinburgh, Paterson, who has won five full Scotland caps in addition to appearances at Under-18, U19 and U21 levels, came through the youth system at Hearts and made his senior debut as a 17-year-old.
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