The former Hearts forward is attracting plenty of interest from south of the border.

A former Hearts striker could fetch a Scottish club over £500k as Portsmouth become the latest team rumoured to be in for his services.

Makenzie Kirk was a regular goal scorer in the Jambos youth ranks but failed to make a consistent breakthrough into a senior setting. After a loan spell at Hamilton Accies brought eight appearances no goals, he signed permanently for St Johnstone last summer, where the forward has now netted 14 times, including four goals in the Premier Sports Cup this season.

It has sparked interest and after Peterborough United came on the scene this month, English Championship side Portsmouth are now said to be keen, according to The News.

Makenzie Kirk to Portsmouth latest

It’s claimed that “the Blues have targeted the St Johnstone forward as an exciting, young option to add to their striking group.” Competition will be heated though as ‘they face competition from League One side Peterborough United, with there also interest from the Scottish Premier League and Bristol Rovers in the 21-year-old.’

The Courier suggest St Johnstone could bank half a million from a deal, saying “the pursuit of Makenzie Kirk is set to go over the £500k mark, with Portsmouth poised to join the race for the St Johnstone striker.” Kirk came off the bench in Saturday’s League Cup defeat against Motherwell.

Boss Simo Valakari said midweek: “The club rejected a bid for Makenzie. It is normal football business – he is a good player, he scores goals, and he is young. We knew there would be interest in him this summer. Rightly so. Nothing has changed. He’s our player, he is working hard and we will see what happens. At this moment he’s our player.

St Johnstone stance on Makenzie Kirk

“We are not desperate to sell. That’s how it is. We know how difficult it is to find strikers – it’s the hardest thing in football, scoring goals. At the moment we have a very good situation with our forwards. We have different types of players and have options depending on what the game needs. It’s a good sign for our club that we have players attracting interest from other teams. Makenzie came back at the start of pre-season in good shape.

“He had built himself up more in the gym. And he has been very good in working on his weaknesses and improving his strengths. Yes, there is interest in him, and you could say that might be a distraction. But Makenzie has been very mature in the way he has handled it. He has been happy to leave it to his agent and his dad so he can concentrate on his football. That’s exactly what you need to do.”

Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson said of possible transfer plans amid the links to the former Hearts man: “We have targets. Obviously we go for our first choice in any position and hope that we get them, but if we don’t we work through our list.”