Hearts transfer latest on Claudio Braga and Amadou Ba-Sy as Jambos target signing in key area
Hearts are still likely to be active on the transfer market front this summer.
Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken insists he will keep an honest relationship with Claudio Braga as speculation surrounds the Portuguese forward.
The Premiership side are set to demand around £8m to £10m for their striker signed last summer in a £430,000 deal from Norwegian second division side Aalesunds. Newly-promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town are the latest to be linked with Braga after Ligue 1 heavyweights Lyon registered their interest in him.
Braga scooped several Player of the Year awards, including PFA Scotland’s grand prize, in his first season at Hearts after 17 goals and six assists in 44 appearances. Vrancken, who says he has not spoken with out of contract goalkeeper Craig Gordon over his future yet, insists he is open with Braga over what lies ahead this summer.
Will Claudio Braga leave Hearts?
“What I've heard is nothing on the table, nothing concrete yet,” said Vrancken, “I have an open and honest communication and relationship with him about those things. So, no, at the moment, no.”
One player who Hearts hope could help lead the line were Braga to depart is French striker Amadou Ba-Sy. The striker arrived earlier this transfer window from Rouen in the third tier of French football but has missed some of pre-season through illness. It means fans didn’t get a glimpse of him in Friday night’s friendly loss against Livingston but his head coach states his situation is becoming more positive ahead of their Champions League second round qualifier first leg against Sturm Graz kicking off on July 21.
“Yeah, he's improving,” said Vrancken. “He was sick, of course, and now he lost, I think, I don't want to say pounds, but kilos, six kilos. I don't know how many. So there's a lot. So he has to find his cardio again, his volume again, but he's eager to play. You see him next to the pitch, yeah, staring at the guys and then hoping that he's back soon. It's also a nice profile when you see him. It's good to have a guy like him who can score some goals because we need that.”
Hearts have lost a number of players this summer. Vrancken’s predecessor, Derek McInnes, has been named Rangers manager with talisman of last term Lawrence Shankland also moving to Ibrox. Cammy Devlin’s name has been added to the list after failing to meet a deadline on committing to a new contract with Hearts after his previous deal expired. Recruitment is likely to continue at Hearts after the arrivals of Ba-Sy, Tom Renaud, Calvin Miller, MJ Kamson-Kamara, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Sabri Guendouz and Josh McPake, with midfield an area to be targeted.
Will Hearts look to replace Cammy Devlin?
"I think when Cammy is not coming, we need something there for sure,” Vrancken said. “I think we can have some type of profiles we don't have in the squad at the moment. But, yeah, that we have to see with recruitment. It's difficult to say now how many players we need because we have already a big group of players, a lot of players now. We have 24 outfield players on the two games on Friday. We have to manage that already. We have to see that the group is not too big, but we need some quality. I think when Cammy is not coming, we need something there for sure, and also Ba-Sy is still there. So we hope that he can be this extra push there.”
Renaud is a midfield option Hearts have added this summer and he netted in the friendly against Livingston. Playing deeper with a licence to get forward, his performance impressed Vrancken, who insists the player who’s arrived from Versailles in France still needs time to adapt in Scotland.
“I’m happy with what Tom’s showing,” the Belgian said. “I'm happy at his improvements, because I think he already did better than the game in Spain against St Mirren. It's a guy who needs this adaptation, who needs some time to adapt. Also with the kind of football, because lower leagues and a different country are a different style of play, totally different style of play. So we have to adapt there. It's good to see that he brings positivity. Also, the goal, I think it's good for his self-confidence. So, yeah, hopefully he can keep making those steps.”
With the likes of Devlin, Shankland and Frankie Kent departing, alongside Craig Halkett’s long-term injury, Vrancken is without a number of leaders from the team that finished second last season. It’s not something he is too concerned by though as he feels there are plenty of others at Tynecastle who can step up into senior roles within the dressing room.
"I think there are still a lot of leaders in our group, especially when I compare it with the past groups I had," Vrancken added. “So I think we have with Halkett, we have with Stephen Kingsley, we have with even Jamie McCart, we have Stuart Findlay. A lot of personalities in the group, Harry Milne too. So the number of leaders is not a problem. Of course, you lose your total central space of the team. o that we have to look that we are there, clean and strong again. But the guys are pushing really hard and that's nice to work with. We don’t have officially a captain yet. We have also Craig who is still out until the end of the year. He is also a potential captain. So yeah, I'm not concerned about those things.”