Confirmed: Hearts appoint Daniel Stendel manager after securing their "number one target"

Daniel Stendel is officially the new Hearts manager

Hearts have finally confirmed the appointment of Daniel Stendel as manager on a two-and-a-half-year contract. The 45-year-old German will officially take charge at Tynecastle Park on Tuesday.

More than five weeks since sacking former manager Craig Levein, and after a compensation dispute with Stendel's former club Barnsley, Hearts have finalised their new figurehead.

Stendel is expected to bring one assistant with him to Scotland. He wanted the coaches who worked with him at Barnsley, Chris Stern and Dale Tonge, to join him in Edinburgh but only one is likely to do so at the moment.

Hearts lost 1-0 at Motherwell on Saturday to slip back to joint-bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership. Within 90 minutes of the final whistle, they released a statement announcing Stendel as manager.

It read: "Heart of Midlothian Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Daniel Stendel as its new first-team manager. The 45-year-old has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal and will take up his new post on Tuesday, December 10.

"German-born Daniel made a name for himself in his playing days as a striker in his homeland, featuring for clubs such as Hamburger SV, Hannover 96 and FC St Pauli. It was at Hannover where he would cut his managerial teeth in April 2016 after a spell coaching the Under-19 side.

"A little over two years later he arrived on British soil to take over at then-League One side Barnsley.

"Having been relegated prior to his arrival, Daniel immediately turned round their fortunes, leading the Oakwell outfit to a second-placed finish ahead of Jack Ross’ Sunderland, and securing promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking. He left them in October of this year.

"While it has taken some time for this process to reach its conclusion we firmly believe that Daniel is the right man to take the club forward.

"With our number one target now on board and his future pledged to Hearts, everyone at Tynecastle Park welcomes Daniel and hopes his appointment heralds an exciting new era for the club as, together, we look to climb back up the Ladbrokes Premiership table."

Stendel was sacked by Barnsley in October but did not receive a pay-off despite believing he had been released from his contract, which ran until the end of the season.

The Oakwell co-chairman Paul Conway wrote to the Hearts owner Ann Budge demanding a six-figure compensation sum for Stendel after learning he was set to fill the vacancy in Edinburgh.

Negotiations on that matter took place over the last few days and Hearts are now eager to move on with Stendel officially in charge.