Three Hearts signings and a new-look midfield in the offing

Pre-contract deals indicate changes in different areas of the team at Tynecastle

One of the busier international breaks at Tynecastle Park will draw to a close later this week. Whilst Scotland and other nations took precedence in recent days, Hearts prioritised forward planning by securing another two pre-contract signings. Such astute business could stand to serve the club well for years to come.

Livingston left-back James Penrice and Motherwell midfielder Blair Spittal both agreed summer moves to Edinburgh late last week, joining Ross County's Yan Dhanda as incoming new recruits for the 2024/25 campaign. The triumvirate all carry a couple of things in common: Their performances have stood out in this year's Scottish Premiership and they are hungry to step up and sample European football.

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The Hearts sporting director Joe Savage moved quickly to tie up three of the top flight's most-coveted free agents for head coach Steven Naismith. Penrice, Spittal and Dhanda will all sign long-term deals and add different qualities to the first-team squad when they report for pre-season training. How and where they fit in is already a matter for debate among supporters.

Penrice is an experienced Scottish football campaigner with 31 appearances for Livingston this term. A Partick Thistle youth academy graduate, he is an adventurous left full-back probably best suited to a wing-back role. With pace and a direct approach, he gets forward regularly to deliver telling crosses and is also adept at set-plays. Five assists is a decent return for a defender in a team bottom of the league, and the 25-year-old will be confident of increasing that tally in a maroon shirt.

His arrival is part of a succession plan at Hearts. Interest from English clubs in the club's current left-back, Alex Cochrane, is ongoing since January. The 23-year-old Englishman is seen as one of the most valuable assets at Tynecastle after arriving from Brighton and Hove Albion in a permanent six-figure transfer in June 2022. Hearts don't want him to leave for anything less than £2m so it remains to be seen if any suitors from down south will pay that amount. Penrice is being recruited as a successor-in-waiting.

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Next year's midfield dynamic is one of the most fascinating aspects of Hearts' transfer movements. Dhanda and Spittal are both creative attacking players who favour a traditional No.10 role at the apex of a midfield structure. Versatility isn't a problem as they can also operate out wide or slightly deeper if required.

Dhanda is 25 and three years younger than Spittal, although arguably more experienced at a higher level. He spent his youth career at West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool and also played for England Under-16s and Under-17s. He joined Swansea City in 2018 and four years later headed north to Ross County, where he quickly became a talismanic figure. Three goals and five assists this season, plus key contributions to several other County goals, were enough to convince Hearts that he merits a deal.

Spittal is one of the most influential players operating in this season's Premiership, with 11 goals in nine assists from 36 games across all competitions for Motherwell so far. He played for Rangers at youth level but emerged from Queen's Park's youth academy in 2012. There were further spells at Dundee United, Partick Thistle and Ross County before he joined Motherwell two years ago. He and Penrice were team-mates at Thistle.

He is seen as a late developer who is now reaching his prime and could add greater impetus in the final third for Hearts. Goals from the club's midfielders are a rarity just now, with Jorge Grant the top-scoring midfielder on two so far this term. Indeed, there are likely to be various changes to the look of the midfield in Gorgie ahead of next season.

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Peter Haring is injured, out of contract and preparing to move on this summer after six years at Hearts. Andy Halliday is on loan at Motherwell and becomes a free agent at the end of May when his Hearts deal expires. Beni Baningime's contract is also running down and he has yet to sign an extension. All three look destined for pastures new. Grant may join them having been close to agreeing a move back to England last summer. He has not cemented a regular first-team place during two years in Scotland.

Exits of the above quartet would leave Hearts with Cammy Devlin and Calem Nieuwenhof as their only two established orthodox central midfielders ahead of the 2024/25 campaign. Dhanda and Spittal would doubtless contest positions slightly further forward, so another new signing for the traditional holding role might be considered.

That may well depend on how other emerging midfielders fare during pre-season. Riccarton coaching staff intend to continue developing youngsters Aidan Denholm, Macaulay Tait and Finlay Pollock at senior level. Tait in particular has the potential to fill that aforementioned defensive midfield void and is one worth watching next season.

Either way, it is already evident that the Hearts engine room will have a much-changed look about it come the start of the new Premiership campaign. Three pre-contract signings will be eager to get started, and more new faces will follow.

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