Hearts defender targets top-two finish and move to England
Heart of Midlothian defender Ismael Bouzid is aiming to help the club finish in the top two of the Scottish Premier League this season.
The 27-year-old hopes that, if he can help the Edinburgh-based club emulate their runner-up finish of 2006, he can earn himself a move to the English Premier League.
Bouzid is eager to play in the top flight of English football after he had looked set to make a transfer to Sunderland when he was 18, but the move fell through when his club at the time, Metz, would not allow him to leave.
He told reporters that: "It has always been my dream to play in England. If Hearts finish in the top three maybe English clubs will come to watch me. But I think we can end up in the top two. Why not? That would increase my chances.
"When I was 18, Peter Reid wanted to sign me for Sunderland. I was offered a contract and wanted to go but my club Metz wouldn't let me leave."
Hearts are currently sitting in third place in the SPL, 10 points behind second-place Celtic.
French-born Bouzid, who has received 12 international caps for Algeria, arrived at Hearts in 2009 and is out of contract in the summer.
The player is well-travelled, having featured for the likes of German Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern and Galatasaray, with whom he won the Turkish Super Lig in 2008, but has yet to play for an English club.
Bouzid has been ever-present in the Hearts side this season, having played in 14 matches for the club across all competitions. He has not yet scored for the club this term, but he has only received one yellow card in the league, in the 3-0 loss to Kilmarnock
on 31 October.
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