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St Mirren have confirmed their desire to sign Zach Hemming permanently this summer, as they announced their retained list at the end of the Scottish Premiership season. For a second
consecutive year, St Mirren exceeded expectations to finish in the top half of the Scottish top tier. Hemming played a big role in both achievements after re-joining the Buddies in January,
though this time around they finished sixth and were unable to qualify for Europe. Despite that, St Mirren are pushing ahead with their summer recruitment drive, which includes talks with
Middlesbrough over the permanent transfer of the Boro academy graduate goalkeeper who has become a fan favourite at the SMISA Stadium. Announcing their retained list, St Mirren confirmed
attempts to re-sign Hemming, after boss Stephen Robinson confirmed talks were under way last week. The club’s statement read: “Ryan Alebiosu, Zach Hemming and Roland Idowu all return to
their respective parent clubs following the expiry of their loan deals. Discussions are ongoing with all three players’ parent clubs as we look to bring them back to the club for next
season. The club is continuing the hard work behind the scenes to add to the core of players already under contract for next season.” St Mirren could push to move the deal along quickly too,
with a deal to sign Idowu from Shrewsbury Town since confirmed by the club. As part of the retained list, the club also confirmed that Caolan Boyd-Munce, once of Boro, will also leave after
he turned down a new deal. He is believed to have lucrative offers elsewhere this summer, including in the MLS. Asked directly about his future last week, Hemming was respectful of the fact
that he still has one year on his deal at Boro, but, with family in mind, he made clear he’d love to make his move to Paisley a permanent one. Boro aren’t expected to stand in the
Wearsider’s way this summer, with Sol Brynn expected to take up the club’s number one mantle next season. Meanwhile, former Boro and Birmingham midfielder Boyd-Munce said in a club video:
“It’s a very special place. My son was born here, we grew as a family here, and as a person. There are people here who will always be very close to me and I’ve loved every minute.”