Hearts boss: Paying for stand will impact on my 2018/19 budget

Work is still to be completed on the new main stand

The manager expects funds to improve thereafter, helping him target higher calibre players.

Hearts still have around £1.5m to pay towards the total cost of the main stand project and will stagger it over the next 12 months. The redevelopment includes new hospitality areas, a club shop and a new home for Tynecastle Nursery School.

Levein is eager for the entire rebuild to be completed and paid off so that his club can then start bringing in increased profits. He told the Evening News that, in the long run, it will lead to an improved playing squad.

“We have another year of pain before we really start to see the benefits of all this new infrastructure,” said Levein, who performs joint roles as director of football and manager at Tynecastle.

Asked if it will impact on this season’s playing budget, he replied: “For sure it will. Absolutely. We have something like another £1.5million to spend on the stand.

“Once the whole thing is finished – and by finished I mean everything inside that can help make us money – then it puts us in a much better position than we were in last year.

“It will take another year to get everything completely finished. If you look at the main stand just now, you will see there’s still a lot of work to do internally. We want to get it finished and looking first class. Once we’re at that point, our revenues are higher, which means there’s more money to put into the playing squad.”

Hearts have already signed five new players ahead of next season – midfielders Olly Lee and Bobby Burns, winger Jake Mulraney, plus strikers Steven MacLean and Uche Ikpeazu.