New Hearts striker gets second time lucky with Tynecastle transfer chance as 'dream' move brings excitement
The new Hearts striker has set his sights on making a Gorgie impact.
JJ Williams insists he’s keen to push his boundaries at Hearts after sealing his transfer from USL Championship club Rhode Island.
The 28-year-old striker was in talks over a move to the Premiership side last year but it didn’t materialise. He has agreed a deal to join ahead of Saturday’s home clash with St Johnstone, that comes days after Conference League progression to the league phase was secured, after defeating Rapid Vienna on penalties. Williams watched the game before training with head coach Wouter Vrancken’s team on Friday ahead of a possible league debut.
He has been getting himself ingrained in all things maroon and is now keen to take his chance after sealing his goal of playing in Europe. Williams said: “I am extremely excited. I think that this is something that I think was in the works for a while. Then things end up falling into place for me. I think we were in talks last year but it didn't end up going through because the necessity for me wasn't there.
Why have Hearts signed JJ Williams?
“It's something that ended up happening this year and I'm beyond grateful for. Just the opportunity to be here and play and Hearts means a lot to me as a club already. I've only been here for about five days, so I can only imagine what it's going to be in the next coming week. So I'm just excited for the opportunity. This is the dream, this is it, and then it's just about continuing to grow.
“For me, one of the biggest things was for me to feel confident or not confident, for me to feel satisfied in my career, I have to see what my potential is. I want to see where my limits are. Wherever I think that is, I know I have more beyond that, so I needed to be in an environment that's going to get the best out of me. This is the place for sure.”
Williams has solely played in America and his latest club in the second tier below the MLS only started playing competitive matches in 2024. It is a vastly different scenario to Hearts, one of Scottish football’s most historic clubs, who have ambitions of competing regularly on the European stage. Bedding into a culture rather than setting one is something Williams is keen to try.
JJ Williams on signing for Hearts
He explained: “I think it's very interesting. Whenever you are a part of a new club, I've been a part of two new clubs now, Birmingham Legion (previously Birmingham Hammers) and Rhode Island. It's a very interesting situation because you can kind of create the culture, you can kind of create anything that you want to, the direction of the club, but there’s a lot of struggle with that.
“On the flip side, whenever you're coming into something that's kind of already set, and there's so much history behind it, you have something that you can just step in and play for. You can see the pride, and how much everybody cares and loves, and just bleeds Hearts. I think that's a very interesting thing because whenever you're new, you have to build that, you have to build the fans, you have to build the passion. You have to do something for people to really want to get behind. You don't have to do that here. Everybody's already behind you and you just have to step in and play football. So I'm excited to be a part of that. The good, the bad, and the ugly, I know that all of it comes with the territory, but you wouldn't want it any other way.”
Williams watched excitedly from a hotel room as a 10-man Hearts side prevailed on penalties against Rapid midweek to set up league phase ties against the likes of Monaco and Trabzonspor. It’s provided him insight on who he will be linking up with at Tynecastle with commitment to his new peers already in abundance. Williams added: “It told me everything I needed to know.
“What a performance. What a performance from those guys. I watched it in my hotel room. I was going crazy, yelling, jumping on the bed like a little kid. I mean, I'm watching that performance and I'm ready to run through a wall for my teammates and I have just been meeting all of them on Friday for the first time. So if we can continue to put that amount of effort and that amount of execution and performance, then I'm very, very happy to be a part of this team.”