Hearts working on a deal to sign Jorge Grant from Peterborough United

Hearts are working on a deal to sign the Peterborough United midfielder Jorge Grant for a reduced transfer fee.

An official bid from Tynecastle has been submitted for the 27-year-old, although English lower-league clubs are also pursuing his signature. Grant’s contract has a £750,000 release clause after Peterborough were relegated to League One last month. Hearts’ offer is considerably lower than that amount.

The player wants to decide his future and is expected to leave Peterborough. He visited Edinburgh over the weekend to look at Hearts’ facilities and is attracted by the prospect of European football next season.

Grant can play as a central midfielder or in an advanced role behind the forward line and is known as a creative type who is capable of carving out scoring chances and taking dangerous set-pieces.

He is also keen to get forward into the penalty area to find the net himself. He scored 17 goals in 51 appearances for Lincoln City in England's League One during the 2020/21 campaign before joining Peterborough last summer.

The season just ended saw him often featuring in a deeper role for United, hence his return of two goals from 29 outings as the club finished third bottom of the Championship.

Grant, who previously spent time at Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Luton Town and Mansfield, now has an opportunity to move north if he can agree contract terms with Hearts.

The Edinburgh club have already signed defenders Kye Rowles and Lewis Neilson plus winger Alan Forrest so far this summer. They are also in negotiations with Belgian club Beerschot in an effort to sign Scotland international striker Lawrence Shankland.