The Lanarkshire club won the fight to hold on to their successful young boss from the clutches of Hearts after chairman John Boyle offered McGhee a highly lucrative new deal.

Talks between McGhee and Boyle went on in secret yesterday afternoon as the Edinburgh club expected to whisk the Fir Park boss off to Lithuania for talks with Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov.

But all speculation ended last night when Motherwell owner Boyle declared in a curt statement: “We have concluded negotiations with Mark McGhee and he remains as  manager. “We are delighted with this outcome as is Mark.” It was on Friday, just as Express Sport /Star Sport had predicted a week ago, that McGhee was top of the Jambos wanted list to take over the troubled Edinburgh club.

Indeed, at one stage yesterday, the indications were that Motherwell had granted Hearts permission to open negotiations with their manager. It looked all set for McGhee to have face to face talks with the ruthless Romanov in Lithuania with a three-year contract worth a reputed £1 million deal ready to be put on the table.

But all Hearts hope evaporated with the revelations that McGhee, the boss who led Motherwell to third place in the premier league and a place in the UEFA Cup, is to stay at Fir Park.

Hearts had asked for official permission to speak to McGhee on Friday but that was immediately denied by the Lanarkshire club.

Since then Boyle has been determined to hold on to the highly ambitious young boss and was keen to recognise his achievements in a remarkable first season with the offer of a new package. Those discussions went on all weekend  before an agreement was reached late yesterday afternoon.

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