Laryea Kingston claims he turned down Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United to sign a permanent contract with Hearts.

The midfielder joined Hearts on loan in January before completing a £500,000 move from Terek Grozny earlier this month.

He has signed a three-year contract with the SPL club, but also revealed he attracted interest from the Premier League.

Kingston confirmed Bolton and Newcastle were both keen on making bids, only to fail to tempt the Ghanaian into turning his back on Hearts.

"This team I like," Kingston told Sky Sports News. "This is the best place for me to be at the moment.

"I think I improved with every game I played last season.

"Of course there were two clubs in the Premier League, but I chose to stay in Hearts.

"The ideas were Bolton and Newcastle as well, but I wanted to stay one more year with Hearts fans.

"I don't go in for money, I play for the heart. I love Hearts and I wanted to play at least one more year before leaving them to go to one of the biggest leagues in the English Premier League."