Exclusive - Hibs playmaker opens up on 'beautiful' football and telepathic understanding with team-mate

On the same wavelength: Marcondes (left) and Le Fondre are developing a promising partnership.

Marcondes: 'We have a plan - but we also play on instinct.'

Emi Marcondes is the first to acknowledge that that beautiful game cannot always be bonny. Even managers blessed with the finest collection of footballing talent in the world understand, he points out, the need to grind and battle, to get a nick on the ball and play off scraps.

But the Danish playmaker, an experienced campaigner who declares himself completely committed to his loan spell with Hibs, doesn’t go to bed at night dreaming of ‘lumping balls into the mixer for the big man’ and hoping someone sclaffs one in from four yards. The poetry and music of the game, the combinations as exhilarating as any syncopated rhythm section or sweetly-sung harmony, those are what really motivate Marcondes.

The Bournemouth No. 10, who spent a miserable eight months recovering from surgery on a long-standing foot injury, was convinced to make his competitive comeback in the Scottish Premiership following a January conversation with Hibs boss Nick Montgomery. The key element to that was Monty selling a compelling vision of how his team intended to play - once they’d found someone capable of knitting the attack together.

Marcondes, admitting that his pulse starts racing when he sees the opportunity to exploit space with a quickfire one-two-three or a killer through ball, feels like his decision to sign on for the adventure – even with all the bumps along the way so far – has paid off, the 29-year-old saying: “That is what I love about football, the beautiful combinations and the really good passing that leads to a goal. But you know it’s not always going to be like that.

“Even in the biggest games, even when a team like Manchester City play, they also have to be ready to win second balls, fight the duels. Good teams, and good players, they can do both.

“But obviously that is why I’m here, to play good football. That’s what we want. I came here to add something to the team on that side, because I really enjoy playing beautiful football. That’s what I’m trying to bring to every game.

“Obviously we work on the attacking side. We have some structure and some organisation, a way we want to create openings, pass through and play through the opposition. You have to know where the spaces are.