Exclusive:Islam Chesnokov's Hearts arrival date and the latest stage of his transfer from Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan winger will soon arrive in Edinburgh
Islam Chesnokov is scheduled to jet into Edinburgh next week to begin his Hearts career, the Edinburgh News can reveal. Plans have been made for the Kazakhstan international winger to touch down in Scotland around the 12th to 14th of the month, allowing time for his UK work visa to arrive. He will then begin training with his new team-mates at Riccarton and prepare for match action at the start of January.
Chesnokov, 26, signed a pre-contract agreement with Hearts earlier this year after Tynecastle officials made previous attempts to sign him from the Kazakhstani club, Tobol Kostanay. Their season is now over and, with his contract expired, Chesnokov is enjoying a short break before moving to the Scottish Capital. A long-term deal with Hearts has already been verbally discussed and management are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their latest signing.
His registration will be lodged with the Scottish Football Association at the start of next year once the January transfer window opens. The SFA have already approved Chesnokov’s move to Hearts with a Governing Body Endorsement, which is a vital document for the Home Office to grant a visa for incoming foreign sportspeople. Chesnokov is pencilled in for a debut for his new club against Livingston at Tynecastle on 3 January.
“He is due in the second week in December,” confirmed Derek McInnes, the Hearts head coach. “He deserves a break, it's been a long season for him and it will be good to get that rest. It will also help him getting a wee bit of training, plus an introduction to Hearts and Edinburgh to get himself sorted. It will be nice to have him in amongst us. We did the GBE application so it's just the working visa now. As long as he has that then he can train with us, but obviously he can't play until the Livingston game.”
Chesnokov finished the season in Kazakhstan with 10 goals and five assists from 29 domestic league and cup outings with Tobol. He also played two Europa League qualifying ties and two Conference League qualifiers for his now-former club. At international level, he featured in all eight of Kazahstan’s World Cup qualifying matches in 2025 as the country failed to reach next summer’s finals in USA, Canada and Mexico.
The Hearts sporting director Graeme Jones explained last month that Chesnokov is the club’s main signing for January as they look to strengthen the right side of their attack. Media reports suggesting the player may renege on his agreement with Tynecastle officials were dismissed. “Chesnokov is the really important one for us,” said Jones. “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.
“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.”