The French forward, who has 14 goals contributions from 31 cinch Premiership appearances so far this term, joined on a season-long loan last summer with the two clubs agreeing a buyout clause that the Easter Road side could trigger at any point. With Youan having shown his value so far, club chiefs have wasted no time in tying down the former Nantes youngster on a three-year deal. He currently tops the assist league for players outwith Celtic and Rangers and has posted his best G/A stats of his career – and there is a sense that he might not yet be finished this season as Hibs target European football next year. Transfer fee The terms of the agreement have been described as ‘undisclosed’ by the club, but a significant six-figure sum has been spent to secure Youan’s services. The Evening News understands that Hibs have paid St. Gallen in excess of £500,000 to land the former France Under-20 internationalist on a permanent basis, with the belief that they can continue improving the player and help him reach his full potential. What Lee Johnson said Hibs manager Lee Johnson was positively purring at Youan’s contribution during Saturday’s 2-1 victory over St Mirren. The attacker scored the first goal after just four minutes and worked hard at both ends of the pitch, earning Johnson’s praise after the match. Speaking about Youan’s permanent signing he said: “We are delighted to bring Élie to the club on a permanent basis. We always believed he had the attributes to help us and his positive form this season shows how important it was to include an option to buy clause in his initial loan agreement. I’d also like to thank the Gordon family for backing us with a significant financial investment, which allowed us to make him a Hibs player. "There’s no doubt that Élie’s got a lot of unique attributes; he’s rapid, can repeatedly sprint, and is a good finisher. He’s still young and we need to keep developing him off the ball, so he can achieve his full potential. We can’t wait to keep working with him, so he can become an even more important player for us.”