Dundee boss Paul Harley won’t rule out keeping hold of striker Greg Stewart as Birmingham City move stalls

DUNDEE manager Paul Hartley will not rule out Greg Stewart staying at Dens Park all season after a proposed move to Birmingham stalled.

Both clubs agreed a fee earlier this week but personal terms have proved a sticking point and Hartley revealed Stewart returned to training on Thursday morning after missing last weekend’s win over Ross County with a minor injury.

The Dundee boss expects Stewart to be in his squad for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Premiership match against Rangers and Birmingham counterpart Gary Rowett, while not closing the door on the deal, admits he is considering other options.

With one year left on his contract, Dundee accepted a bid of about £500,000 rather than face losing him for nothing next summer, but Hartley would not rule out the latter option.

Hartley said: “The ball is firmly in Birmingham’s court just now in terms of personal terms. Will they revisit that? I don’t know.

“Greg just loves playing football. He has never come to me asking for a move. He is at an age where he sees this as a different challenge for him. But, who knows, we still might have Greg for the next season.”

The 26-year-old has been on the PFA Scotland player of the year shortlist in both seasons since joining Dundee from part-time Cowdenbeath.

The creative player, who can play up front or in midfield, has scored six goals in three Betfred Cup games this season, taking his full tally in dark blue to 32.

Hartley said: “I believe he can play at the highest level. Is he good enough for the Championship in England? Without a shadow. A lot of Scottish players have proved that over the years. The way Greg has performed over the past two years has been terrific.”

Rowett agrees but he admitted that the deal was “up in the air”.

Quoted on his club’s official website, Rowett said: “Unless he signs for someone else, or perhaps re-signs for Dundee then it’s still something we’ll always look at. But of course we’ll now look at our other options as well.”

He added: “I’ve got no problem with the agent and we’ve not been messed about in that sense. It’s just a clear case of what we’ve put in front of them at the moment wasn’t quite what they were looking for.

“I’ve been in that situation as a player and I’ve got no problem with that – that’s their prerogative.

“All I can do is say he is a very good player and we think he is one who could improve us and give us something slightly different.

“We’re in a position where we can’t overpay for players, particularly when there is a fee involved. That has to make the overall package fairly reasonable.

“We’ll see if we can still keep this one alive, but if we can’t we’ll move onto other things.”

Hartley is also making contingency plans having replaced Kane Hemmings with Faissal El Bakhtaoui days after last season’s top goalscorer moved to Oxford.

“We showed last week without Stewart and Hemmings that we can cope,” he said. “If Greg does leave, then we will cope again. That’s part of having a good group of players and a strong squad.

“We are always looking to strengthen the squad in the event Greg does leave. We still want to add one or two players to the squad anyway and we are trying hard to do that.”