Hearts are in the market for a winger this January transfer window and they’ve been linked with a couple of names.
The Jambos have entered into talks with Kilmarnock star Danny Armstrong over a potential pre-contract deal with the 27-year-old out of contract in the summer.
Hearts would of course prefer to sign the player this month in order to strengthen their squad for the rest of the season, but it remains to be seen how talks are progressing.
The other winger Hearts are chasing this month is FC Tobol star Islam Chesnokov, which was exclusively revealed by Not The Old Firm.
We told you that the Gorgie side are negotiating with FC Tobol over a potential deal and both parties are said to be working together to make it happen.
But freelance journalist Mark Walker is now reporting that FC Tobol’s sporting director Sanzhar Seitkazinov has criticised Hearts for their opening transfer offer for Chesnokov.
Hearts transfer bid for Islam Chesnokov blasted
Seitkazinov has accused Hearts of trying to lowball the transfer and that has been deemed ‘unacceptable’ by the sporting director.
It is being said that FC Tobol have asked Hearts to return to the negotiating table with an improved offer before dismissing reports that the Tynecastle club lodged a £500k bid for Chesnokov.
Moreover, Seitkazinov claims Hearts have competition from Russia to sign Chesnokov, but the player supposedly would rather develop his career in western Europe instead.
Seitkazinov has been quoted as saying: “Hearts wants Chesnokov almost for free. We consider this unacceptable. Islam is a quality Kazakhstan footballer, whom the club will not be able to replace with another Kazakhstan player.
“If he leaves, this position will be taken by a foreign player. We do not have a Kazakhstan player in a similar position who would not be inferior to Islam in quality.
“Giving him away for free is wrong, because the club invested in his development. We asked Hearts to come back with another offer, if possible.
“The club’s position is this – if we were really offered the £500,000 that has been reported, we would have taken him to Scotland ourselves!
“We do not want to hinder Islam’s career. But he also has solid offers from clubs in Russia too. However, the wish of Islam is to try himself in Europe rather than Russia. We are not asking for fabulous money.”
Neil Critchley has been quizzed on Chesnokov interest
As mentioned above, it is clear Hearts are keen to sign a winger before January deadline.
It could be their fourth addition of the window after already securing Elton Kabangu on loan, Jamie McCart from Rotherham and agreeing a fee for Michael Steinwender.
Hearts boss Neil Critchley, speaking ahead of Hearts’ away trip to Brechin City in the Scottish Cup on Friday night, was quizzed directly on Chesnokov – but unsurprisingly, he wasn’t going into any detail.
He replied: “No, that’s not close. We get linked with numerous players during January. A lot of speculation, a lot of rumours.
“We’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes. We’re speaking about a lot of players. There’s certain areas of the pitch I think if we improved or had a slightly different profile of a player, it would help us.
“We’ve identified areas of the pitch that we’ve wanted or want to bring players in. We’re on that sort of journey.
“Obviously, that journey doesn’t last for long because it only lasts for one month and there’s only two weeks of the window to go. So, let’s see where we are in 14 days’ time from now.”