Hearts transfer talks to commence as two deadlines weighed up and injuries could spark rethink
Hearts are entering the final week of the transfer window with decisions to make.
Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken says he and sporting director Graeme Jones have key decisions to make ahead of a hectic end to the summer transfer window at Tynecastle.
The Premiership side who have qualified for the league phase of the Conference League with a penalty shootout win over Rapid Vienna last week have already signed 11 senior players. That’s not including loans becoming permanent deals and several stars of last term’s second-place finish have also exited. Aron Benjaminsen of Vikingur Gota and playmaker Leart Kabashi from Grasshopper Zurich are targets but Hearts face a dilemma due to their involvement in the Conference League between now and Christmas.
Their squad for that competition must be submitted by Wednesday night while the Scottish transfer window shuts at 5pm the next day - three hour prior to this season’s first Edinburgh derby versus Hibs kicking off at Easter Road. Vrancken expects long days this week where adaptation will be key in a period renowned for circumstances changing rapidly.
Wouter Vrancken on Hearts transfer business
“Good question, good question,” Vrancken responded when asked how he’d juggle the two deadlines. “I'm just asking myself the question also. I just have to talk a lot with Graeme and look how we see the squad, and what we think, and what's going on in the back, so that we can have as good an overview as we can have. Because we have to make decisions in the list and we cannot make five changes afterwards. We have to try to be as spot-on as possible and adapting on the last day.
“There will be long days. It has to be done. We have to prepare for Hibs like we prepare every game, and knowing the weight of the game also, that we will be well prepared there. But at the same time, you have to discuss the list, discuss transfers when it's like this. This is like we do every week actually, so we have to keep talking about it, and then we have to make some decisions, depending on what's happening behind the scenes.”
Vrancken was due for talks with Jones in the aftermath of defeating St Johnstone 2-1 at Tynecastle on Saturday and Tom Renaud’s injury could factor into that. It was confirmed post-match that the summer signing in midfield would be out for months with an ankle injury sustained during battle in Vienna. The Hearts head coach says fast-thinking will be important in the window’s final days and hours while a midfield rethink could be in order with Ageu’s injury status another element to be factored into their decision making process.
”We're going to discuss the squad,” said Vrancken. “Also with the injury to Tom, of course, and looking where Ageu is, for example, and looking further into if we need something, and if there's something going on, outgoing maybe. So we have to be ready to adapt, and adapt fast, but it's difficult to say at the moment.”
What summer signing has impressed at Hearts?
One signing who did impress Vrancken on Saturday was Laurent Mendy. The summer import from Forest Green Rovers had several scoring opportunities in the match and controlled central areas before being substituted, having recently returned from injury, and his head coach was impressed with what was put into the game.
“Good first half, I think,” explained Vrancken. “But then also you see managing fatigue of the Wednesday game, but also managing him, because he had some cramps when he came off. So he was limping at the moment. Then we see also that we have to push to make some steps there physically, and with a lot of players coming back, it's good to see that they're coming back. We need those steps to get them on the same level physically as the others. But again, happy with especially the first half performance there. So we know we can count on him.”
Christian Borchgrevink was another to win the praise of his manager on Saturday after filling in at left-back amid injuries to Harry Milne and Stephen Kingsley. He insisted that it hasn’t been easy for the right-back or fellow full-back Jordi Altena after turning from periphery players with former boss Derek McInnes last term to regular stars under new management. Winger Calvin Miller has also had to deputise at left-back recently in another position where Vrancken has had to deal with injury headaches.
“Yeah, happy for sure, because, yeah, he fills a gap there.” added Vrancken. “And I think Calvin is also happy that he does good there! Christian, he has a lot of mentality. A lot of fighting spirit, team spirit. He does everything for the team. I'm happy to see that he can cope with this situation and also Jordi, because he played 120 minutes on Wednesday, didn't play too much last year and all those numbers of games.
“It's not easy, and then doing this performance, and you saw also at the end that it was difficult for him to win those duels, these little moments, these loose balls or something. Then you don't have the real focus anymore. Then you have to feel the mental fatigue there. Again, he kept it in the game and he did everything for the team. So we fought together. That's nice.”