Kazakhstan winger is with his national squad as World Cup qualifiers end

Islam Chesnokov has told Hearts he is committed to moving to Edinburgh as he prepares for the next phase of his career. Talks between Chesnokov and Tynecastle officials took place in the last few days, during which the Kazakhstan international winger stressed he has no intention of reneging on a pre-contract agreement with the club.

He is currently with his national team after their World Cup campaign ended. Chesnokov was sent off against Belgium in Kazakhstan’s final qualifier and they now play Faroe Islands in a friendly tonight. After that, Chesnokov will take a short holiday. He is due to report to Riccarton early next month and will sign a long-term Hearts contract before registering with the Scottish Football Association in January.

Recent media reports from Kazakhstan suggested Chesnokov might go back on his deal with Hearts amid approaches from clubs in his homeland and Russia. However, the SFA have already approved the player’s move from Tobol Kostanay, and Hearts have lodged his UK work permit application with the Home Office.

With the various factors of the transfer now coming together, Hearts sporting director Graeme Jones revealed he is looking forward to the 25-year-old arriving in Scotland. “Chesnokov is the really important one for us. I know there have been various bits and pieces coming from his homeland. We had a call with him on Friday and spoke with him at length. He is really excited about coming,” said Jones.

“We are just going through the process of making sure have everything in place for him. We had his GBE approval last week and we are making sure that everything is set up so that, when he gets here, he's got a really good month. That leads into January and then we go from there.”

There is not expected to be any issue with Chesnokov’s work permit given he is full internationalist with 22 senior caps to his name. The paperwork should be processed and through before Hearts need to register him at Hampden Park. “Yeah, once you get the GBE approval that allows you to get the work permit,” said Jones. “He is still with Kazakhstan just now. He will have a little break and then he will come over.

“It is a complicated process - as we experienced with Landry Kabore and Sabah Kerjota - to bring players in and go through the various bureaucratical and procedural things in order to get them playing. That's ongoing. The main aim is to ensure he is ready to go as of the start of January.”

Provided all of the above goes to plan, Chesnokov should spend most of December training with the Hearts squad at Riccarton. He would then be in line for a Tynecastle debut in the William Hill Premiership match against Livingston on 3 January.