James Penrice leaves Hearts in a seven-figure transfer to AEK Athens

James Penrice has said farewell to Hearts and left the club’s Spanish training camp destined for a £2m transfer to AEK Athens. A deal for the left-back was struck yesterday and he departed for Alicante airport early this morning. The Greek club wanted an attack-minded full-back and identified Penrice as the man to fill the void following his excellent season in maroon last year.

Hearts secure a tidy fee plus a sell-on agreement for the 26-year-old, who arrived at Tynecastle Park as a free agent from Livingston last summer. He was the Edinburgh club’s best player last term and won their Player of the Year award but after 12 months in Gorgie he is now set to continue his career in the Greek Super League. He will have a medical in Athens before signing paperwork to finalise the move.

Penrice played 46 times for Hearts last season and earned many plaudits for his performances. Clubs in England watched him and Hearts were open to a deal this summer after signing Harry Milne from Partick Thistle in January. Penrice took part in Wednesday night’s pre-season friendly against St Mirren in Spain, playing 45 minutes before Milne took over.

Milne will now aim to secure the left-back slot at Tynecastle Park for the new season. With Stephen Kingsley currently nursing a niggling injury, the 28-year-old has an opportunity to showcase his credentials to new head coach Derek McInnes. He will feature in Friday’s friendly against Crawley Town ahead of next week’s Premier Sports Cup opening tie against Dunfermline Athletic at Tynecastle.

Penrice is the first of potentially several departures from Hearts in the coming weeks. After six new signings arrived and captain Lawrence Shankland agreed a new three-year contract, the first-team squad is bloated and will be trimmed. A number of fringe players are expected to move, either on loan or permanently, to reduce the size of the group.

Hearts transfer targets after six new signings

Simultaneously, McInnes is also seeking more new recruits. Six signings have arrived to date this summer in the shape of Norwegian right-back Christian Borchgrevink, Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis, Belgian striker Elton Kabangu, Irish midfielder Oisin McEntee, Portuguese striker Claudio Braga and Scottish centre-back Stuart Findlay. Shankland agreeing to stay was another major boost for the management team.

Hearts are currently in negotiations for two attackers, Albanian winger Sabah Kerjota from Italian Serie C side US Sambenedettese and Burkina Faso internationalist Pierre Landry Kabore from Estonian club JK Narva Trans. Talks are ongoing regarding those two targets as McInnes looks to strengthen his forward line. He is also looking at other areas of the team which may need improved in the coming weeks.

Hearts play four Premier Sports Cup games and Craig Gordon’s testimonial against Sunderland before the new Scottish Premiership season begins. Their first league game is against McInnes’ former club Aberdeen at Tynecastle on Monday, 4 August. The summer transfer window will remain open until Monday, 1 September.

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