Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell says he is working flat out to find a replacement for Mika Biereth after the striker was recalled by Arsenal this week, but that a deal to bring Kevin van Veen back to the club to fill his shoes is not ‘realistic’.

Kettlewell was gutted to receive the news on Wednesday that his star striker in the first half of a tumultuous campaign would be leaving unexpectedly, with Arsenal ready to farm him out again to a club they deem to be competing at a higher level than the Scottish Premiership.

But he says it is likely that the player who comes in to lead the line for the Steelmen in his stead will be plucked from the same English loan market, with no possibility of meeting the financial demands of Groningen to bring the unsettled Van Veen back to Lanarkshire.

“That was a huge blow to me on Wednesday when I got that news,” Kettlewell said.

“I saw and spoke to Mika, and I think there was a bit of disappointment in him leaving. He loved it, he really enjoyed his time here.

READ MORE: Can Motherwell shake off viral vid jibes and land investor?

“He had a first loan out in Holland that didn’t work out too well, and I think everyone can see over the last five or six months how much he has grown as a player, which I’m immensely proud of for what we do as a football club.

“Even last week, the conversation with Arsenal was that the player loves it, he was really enjoying it, they loved the loan and they thought it had been a terrific loan for him.

“The only thing that was mentioned at the time ahead of his recall deadline was that it would need to be something major to take him away from Motherwell, because they like the league and they like the club, and what the player was doing.

“Unfortunately, that thing they deem to be bigger and better has come along, so I can’t control that.

“We now have to move on and see what we can do to try and replace Mika, because he’s been a big player for us.

“Naturally, there is communication between myself and Kevin on a personal side of things, but in terms of us bringing Kev back to the football club…

“The deal Kevin went to Groningen for, if he was to move on from there and if they even want to move him on from there, I would imagine they are going to be looking for numbers greater than we can offer.

“So, as that stands just now, I would say no, but you are always trying to bring players to your football club, and he is someone that we have an association with.

“Whether I think it is realistic that we can bring the player back in is a completely other thing.

“We need to try and be as clever as we possibly can to see if there is another opportunity of something similar [to Mika], a player who is maybe on the periphery of a bigger club and they want an opportunity for him to come and show their talent.”

Kettlewell faces a headache in midfield too, where the news that Callum Slattery has been ruled out for the season with a knee injury has at least been partly softened by Lennon Miller returning to action ahead of schedule, with the youngster available for tomorrow’s Scottish Cup tie against Alloa.

READ MORE: Big window ahead for Motherwell as Kettlewell survives D-Day

Motherwell have held talks with experienced Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday as they look to compensate for Slattery’s absence, and Kettlewell is hoping to get some deals over the line in the coming days.

“I’m gutted for Callum and for ourselves, but most importantly for the player,” he said.

“That changes the thought process, because that is a guy who plays in our team every week and has been superb for us.

“I think he was one of the best players for the first seven or eight games of the season, if you look at how the data and how he was performing at that point, I thought he was top drawer. He’s had a lot of good games since that too.

“We felt he was in a good place, and it is just a completely innocuous incident in training that leads to a significant injury.

“I’m not going to go into the specifics of individuals, but what I can tell you is that we have spoken to a lot of players.

“I genuinely believe there are a couple of those who are sitting in a reasonable position, but I am trying really hard to see if we can get a couple more over the line.

“You mention an individual, I can tell you I’ve spoken to a lot of players and a lot of representatives, and some of those conversations have been a lot more positive than others.

“But I hope that in the coming days our guys will be announcing one or two things that are getting across the line for us, but there are no guarantees in football.

“Come the end of the window, we want to come out of it stronger than we went in, and at the minute, we are quite clearly weaker than we went in because of the players we’ve lost.”