Two Hearts players up for sale as the Tynecastle club listen to transfer offers

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Two Hearts players have been made available for transfer as the club prepare to trim the size of their first-team squad. Ugandan international centre-back Toby Sibbick and Australian international full-back Nathaniel Atkinson are both up for sale having been told that they are surplus to requirements.

Both players dropped out of the starting line-up towards the end of last season as Hearts secured third place and guaranteed European league-stage football. After signing defender Daniel Oyegoke from Brentford, with Gerald Taylor’s loan move from Deportivo Saprissa currently being processed, Sibbick and Atkinson are now well down the pecking order at Riccarton.

Head coach Steven Naismith held talks with them to explain the situation and said neither of the two defenders will play regularly during the season ahead. Hearts travel to Tenerife for a pre-season training camp on Thursday, but Sibbick and Atkinson will remain in Edinburgh to train with the club’s B team. Scotland internationalists Zander Clark and Lawrence Shankland do not report back until next week and will therefore not take part in the camp. Costa Rica winger Kenneth Vargas will also be absent as he is still at the Copa America.

“We will have 26 players going out - 24 outfield and two goalies,” said Naismith. “The four youngsters who over the last year have established themselves in the first-team group - [James] Wilson, [Finlay] Pollock, Macaulay [Tait] and [Aidan] Denholm - they will all go. Two that won't are Sibbick and Atkinson. Their minutes aren't going to be what they want to be.

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“We had conversations towards the end of last season and it is likely they will move on at some point. They are still part of the group, they will still train but the priority does come for the boys who are going to be in the team that you need to get the detail in. In those moments, they will need to compromise. It's football. They [Sibbick and Atkinson] will be on a mixture of B team and individual programmes throughout the week that we are away. They will more than likely not play in any of the games.”

Atkinson was miffed at missing out on an Australia call-up in June because of a lack of matches with Hearts. “With every player, I am open and honest with them. In these situations, I will have conversations with them,” said Naismith. “Toby is someone who has recognised he has not been comfortable or happy with his game time, even back in January. There wasn't a solution that came in January so he stayed and played a part so there was probably a bit more understanding with Toby's one. I think we were all on the same page that he's wanting more football, wanting to play more regularly, so we'll see how that goes.

“With Natty, it was a tough conversation. Towards the end of last season, his minutes weren't where he wanted them to be and I think that shows in the international [squad] that he doesn't get called up, which he wouldn't have been happy with and wasn't happy with. It's just a footballing decision, that's what I said to them.

“There is disappointment. There's things that the players will feel, there's things that I will feel but ultimately it is just a footballing decision. At this moment in time, we are all here. For the players, they need to get fit regardless of where they are playing their football so it's in everybody's interest to work hard and still be part of it. Until they leave they are still Hearts players, they will still train with us, they will still be around the group and that's the way it will work.”

Hearts have not received any interest in Sibbick or Atkinson so far. That goes for the rest of their squad. “No, I've not heard of any interest,” said Naismith. “It's not something I've had too many conversations about because, knowing football, a lot of teams don't start kicking into action in terms of what they are looking for until now. We're in this period where everybody needs to get fit. They will be around and what will happen will happen. I don't think we've taken any phone calls or had any conversations about any of our players. None that I can think of.”

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Hearts play a closed-doors friendly on Wednesday but won’t involve the Australian pair Kye Rowles and Cammy Devlin, who only returned to training this week after international duty last month. “We've got a game on Wednesday,” said Naismith. “Cammy and Kye won't play in that and will be with the B team and then next week Shanks and Zander are back. They will come in, do their testing with the B team and will join up with us when we're back [from Tenerife]. Kenneth is later on. Shanks and Zander are not going to Tenerife just to give them enough time off. They'll get this week, most of next week and will come back in and do their training.

“The first week is always a bit full-on. The start of the week is full-on for the staff as the players come in, testing, and then back on the pitch. It is just a change of routine for everybody. You get to the end of the week and everybody is knackered, mentally and physically for the players. But it has been really good. The conditioning of the players coming back, in the modern day they all do come back in good condition. A lot of the ones who had disrupted seasons last season have worked extremely hard to get to a good level - [Liam] Boyce, [Barrie] McKay, [Craig] Halkett to name a few.”

Calem Nieuwenhof, Finlay Pollock and new signing James Penrice are all easing themselves back into training after some injury issues last season. “Calem and Finlay are probably are on the same trajectory. They are back doing bits on the pitch,” explained Naismith. “They will join the group next week. We have probably been a bit more cautious with the two of them this week than we could have. James Penrice is another one who is in that bracket of doing some training. They will all come back into training next week [in Tenerife].”