Kenneth Vargas wasn't the first and Kenneth Vargas certainly won't be the last.

Players speaking to media in their homeland during the off season or on international duty and their comments being picked up and relayed back is nothing new. After all, the world is a smaller place making anything said much easier to be read or heard.

Those comments and claims made by Vargas at the end of last week while on international duty with Costa Rica regarding his situation at Heart of Midlothian, his future and the standard of Scottish football in general raised plenty of eyebrows it is fair to say.

Former Hearts boss Steven Naismith gave a measured and insightful view on what the Costa Rican said. He noted that Vargas had been naive, that his comments hadn't quite been taken out of context as the forward suggested, but they had been taken the wrong way.

"I think he's done an interview, at times potentially not knowing it's going to get bounced back here," Naismith told Off the Ball. "I've played with a lot of players that have gone international and they've come back and they've said all sorts. 

"He's a driven young player, he's got a young son, his goal is to get him everything he can. That's to go to the highest level, I think there's no doubt about that."

Now, it is completely understandable that his comments have put a number of fans' noses out of joint. The timing of what he said was far from ideal. Not only are Hearts currently sitting second bottom of the Premiership ahead of their return to action against league leaders Celtic on Saturday but Vargas himself has not had the most productive of seasons.

His previous appearance, of course, came in the 1-0 defeat at Rangers where the 22-year-old missed a big chance in the second half. 

As noted by Naismith, Vargas' form this campaign has not been good enough to warrant such talk of earning a move up a level, let alone to a top five league. 

It has been a frustrating season for Vargas. It was hoped, expected even, that he would kick on and become a leading figure in attack after what was a promising first year in Scotland, scoring nine goals and providing plenty of drive, energy and pace to the front line. He seemed well placed, with a year's experience behind him, to kick on and alleviate some of the goal-scoring pressure on Lawrence Shankland. He's scored one more than his colleague but neither have the attacking numbers that had been expected.

However, his comments are far from unforgivable. They were those of a young player being honest, perhaps too much so, and expressing his ambition. It's not the first time Vargas has been quite so honest, having written a message in the summer after his game time at the Copa America was limited.

Let's face it, with regard to what he said last week, it is largely what everyone already knows. Vargas doesn't see Hearts as an end point but a stepping stone toward something he views as bigger and better in Europe. Now, understandably, sometimes fans don't want to hear that said out loud, it can be difficult to swallow and they can easily feel a wee bit disrespected. It can be made more palatable if the player has been flying and producing on a regular basis.

The club hope to benefit financially from Vargas. The reality is that the relationship is transactional. It's football. Vargas performs well and Hearts will look to cash in on the six-figure investment they made in a player they handed a five-year deal to.

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There is a strong belief that the forward has the potential to make the club money. There will be some within the support who doubt that, using this season as evidence, but there will be plenty of clubs who see that potential. Whether it is his intensity and attitude on the pitch, his ability to get into good scoring areas and/or his pace to stretch games. There are areas of his game that need refined, namely what he does with the ball in the final third, but encouragingly he does get into threatening positions. Composure and decision-making should improve with more experience.

Now, the above is the model Hearts want to operate and it is an aspect that the club have been criticised for, the lack of player trading. The financial accounts in the last few years demonstrate it in black and white. Therefore it is no surprise that there is an understanding between club and player about what the future could look like, i.e. a sale should an appropriate offer be received.

Looking ahead to Vargas' return following Costa Rica's clash with Panama in the early hours of Tuesday morning and the Celtic fixture, there hopefully shouldn't be any frostiness. Firstly, Vargas is a popular member of the squad and it's unlikely that his comments will have bothered his team mates all that much. While his view on Scottish football was not the best look considering he's not had a particularly productive season, can it be disrespectful if it's true?

It is within the support where there may be some frostiness but there are few better fixtures to return to. The focus will be on securing a big result in front of what will likely be a raucous Tynecastle Park on Saturday evening.

Depending on how talks go when he returns, with the player not really having addressed what he said in his response to the comments, the best thing Neil Critchley could perhaps do is play him from the start. Now, there will be some, perhaps many reading, who will completely disagree with that but the player may see it as a chance to prove himself. One thing that can't be debated is the player's attitude when he steps onto the pitch. He gives his all and leaves it on the pitch.

Vargas is an asset to Hearts and it would be good to see how he works under Critchley over a longer period. The last few days could, perhaps, prompt a kick-start to his campaign rather than the beginning of the end.