Hearts' European opponents seal a record £14m transfer deal - but star man can't play against Tynecastle side
Cercle Brugge are set to receive an enormous fee
Cercle Brugge have finalised a deal to sell star striker Kévin Denkey for almost £14m ahead of their UEFA Conference League tie against Hearts. Terms are agreed and paperwork due to be signed in the next 48 hours for the Togolese internationalist to join the American club FC Cincinnati in what is a record transfer for the Belgians.
The deal is worth €16.6m [£13.9m] in total, with Cercle receiving an initial payment of €15.3m [£12.75m] and the rest coming in add-ons. Denkey has scored 11 goals in 23 games this season and struck 28 times in 39 outings last term. Cercle are eager to keep their star player and have agreed that he will not move to the MLS just yet.
Denkey will remain in Bruges for the moment and is expected to play in Saturday’s league match away to Standard Liége. However, he cannot face Hearts in European competition. The 23-year-old was sent off for two yellow cards in Cercle’s previous Conference League match earlier this month - a 0-0 draw away to Austrian side LASK Linz - and is therefore suspended when the Edinburgh club visit the Jan Breydel Stadium a week on Thursday.
His absence is regarded as a huge boost for Hearts as they seek a win which would effectively secure progress to the Conference League’s knockout round play-off. Neil Critchley’s team are sitting 12th in the 36-team table with six points from their first three games. Cercle are 15th on four points.
Both clubs emerged from Pot 4 in the Conference League draw and a close match is anticipated in Belgium next week. Cercle knocked Kilmarnock out of the Europa League qualifying rounds earlier this year but are currently third bottom of the 16-team Belgian top flight. It is expected that more than 3,000 Hearts fans will travel to Bruges to support their side.