Hearts’ midfield recruitment plans on hold until Arnaud Djoum future resolved

Hearts’ plans to sign a new midfielder this summer rest on whether Arnaud Djoum extends his contract. If the Tynecastle hierarchy can persuade Djoum to stay, strengthening their midfield will be less of a priority.

Cameroon midfielder Arnaud Djoum is yet to commit to Hearts

Derby County’s Craig Bryson is a potential target should the Cameroonian leave when his existing deal expires at the end of the month. He has spent four years in Edinburgh but Hearts have not given up hope of keeping him for longer.

Manager Craig Levein has successfully negotiated contract extensions for Peter Haring, Uche Ikpeazu, John Souttar, Michael Smith and Christophe Berra this year. There is also an agreement in place to sign forward Steven Naismith permanently from Norwich City.

Djoum’s future remains uncertain and either way it will have an impact on Hearts’ recruitment ahead of next season.

“I’m still trying with Arnaud so we need to find out what is going on there one way or the other,” Levein told the Evening News.

“That will obviously have implications on whether we need another midfield player or not. It’s still to become clear what’s going to happen there. I’m also trying to get two strikers in but it’s obviously very early at this stage.”

Signing Naismith will be regarded as something of a coup by Hearts, who have had the Scotland internationalist on loan from Norwich for the last 18 months. “The will on both sides is pretty obvious so I can’t see there being any issues,” confirmed Levein.