Hearts raising their profile with more growth to come as Tony Bloom's deal pays dividends
Scottish Premiership leaders continue on an upward trajectory
The steadily-rising profile of Heart of Midlothian understandably excites supporters. Tony Bloom’s investment opened doors to a new level of deals, transfers, expertise and networking, taking Hearts on an upward trajectory. They sit top of the William Hill Scottish Premiership in pursuit of a historic title with nine games left, but that is merely the tip of the Tynecastle iceberg.
Naturally, any team leading their country’s top flight will enjoy significant domestic media coverage, plus heightened interest from elsewhere. Hearts are five points clear right now having topped the Premiership since September. Their relationship with sports data firm Jamestown Analytics - brokered by Bloom and his associates - allied to Derek McInnes’ astute management helped set a pace others are still trying to match.
However, there is more background evidence of Hearts’ ongoing growth. Their players are now wanted by clubs in the cash-rich English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, and the Greek Super League. Bloom has plans to continue developing the Edinburgh club after investing £9.86m last year, so this is intended to be just the start. Fans anticipating more title races and perhaps even Champions League football are allowing their minds to wander.
Jamestown’s influence centres around signing players cheap and selling for a big profit. Hearts signed defender Daniel Oyegoke from Brentford in summer 2024 for a moderate sum and sold him to Italian side Hellas Verona six months later for a decent six-figure gain. Left-back James Penrice arrived from Livingston for free in the same window as Oyegoke. He moved on to AEK Athens in a £2m deal 12 months later.
More recently, teenage Hearts striker James Wilson joined Tottenham Hotspur on loan until the end of the season. That agreement includes an option for Spurs to sign him permanently for a pre-agreed fee understood to be £2.5m before add-ons. Wilson is part of Spurs’ under-21 squad but found himself promoted to the first-team substitutes’ bench for the recent London derby against Arsenal. Riccarton youth academy midfielder Keir McMeekin, 16, has just agreed terms to join Manchester City at the end of the season. Hearts will receive around £400,000 in training compensation for the young Fifer in a deal which could rise to £2m in future if he makes a specific number of first-team appearances.
Rewind even five years and most of the above was unthinkable as Hearts gained promotion from the Scottish Championship. Aaron Hickey was sold to Bologna in summer 2020 as the Tynecastle side were controversially demoted following the Covid 19 outbreak. That deal brought in more than £1m and Hickey has gone on to build a fine career with Brentford and the Scottish national team. His transfer was an anomaly at the time, though. Other outgoings saw players leave Gorgie for destinations like Hamilton, Alloa and French third-tier side Le Mans.
The aim is to ensure lucrative seven-figure deals become more commonplace at Hearts in future. Jamestown will recommend transfers for some first-team players this summer, regardless whether they have a Premiership winner’s medal dangling round their neck or not. The likes of Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis, signed as a free agent last year, and Portuguese forward Claudio Braga, who cost £430,000, are potential candidates with interest already building. Star players like those would not be allowed to leave unless for a significant seven-figure sum, and Jamestown always have a list of potential replacements to call upon if needed. Rogers Mato wasn’t signed in January to sit on the bench, for example.
Bloom watches all of this from afar, dipping a toe in and out with the odd trip to Tynecastle to take in games and catch up with senior Hearts officials. He is no stranger to high-profile status in business or sport as the Starlizard gambling tycoon who is also chairman of English Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion. His methods helped Brighton grow into an established top-flight team in England, helped Union Saint-Gilloise go from second division to champions of Belgium, and are currently helping Como upset the establishment in Serie A, where they sit fourth ahead of Roma and Juventus.
Hearts are perhaps exceeding expectations on the field so far, but there will be more deals with the richest leagues in world football to come. Those will swell the Tynecastle coffers, allow for more investment in even better players, and help raise that club profile even more. Of course, becoming the first team other than Celtic or Rangers to win the Scottish league for 41 years would elevate Hearts’ reputation to another level altogether.