Beslija transfer nears completion as Tynecastle club pay Genk record £850,000 for Bosnia winger

THE on-off saga of Hearts' attempts to sign the Bosnian international Mirsad Beslija was all but completed successfully last night at the end of a frantic day's activity on the transfer market. The 26-year-old midfielder has agreed personal terms, passed a medical, and also been granted a work permit after a successful appeal to the Home Office by Hearts general secretary Campbell Ogilvie.

Beslija could not register as a Hearts player in time to join the squad for this afternoon's match against Hibs, but that formality is expected to be completed on Monday. A fee of around £850,000 has been agreed with the Belgian club Racing Genk, which if confirmed would make Beslija Hearts' record signing.

Reputedly one of the fastest players in European football, Beslija had apparently lost his chance to move to Edinburgh earlier in the month when Hearts' owner, Vladimir Romanov, refused to sanction payments to four individuals who wanted a cut of the deal. Romanov's decision to play hardball now seems to have been vindicated.

While Beslija will have to wait to make his debut, and the Benfica midfielder Bruno Aguiar is still just edging closer to signing, Chris Hackett is set to play today after moving from Oxford United on a two-and-a-half-year deal. Hearts paid a nominal fee to the League Two club for the right winger, who had also attracted interest from Hibs.

"I think there were some French clubs interested - and a Spanish club," Graham Rix, Hearts' first-team coach, said yesterday. "He was going to be a free in the summer, and I thought it was worth the gamble.

"I didn't jump in, really. I think he had talks with them [Hibs]. Then he came here, saw this place, had a chat with me, obviously I knew him from Oxford. I'm delighted we've got him."

Hackett said he had spoken to Hibs manager Tony Mowbray, but explained that the interest from Rix, who had coached him at Oxford, effectively made up his mind for him. "I heard of Hearts' interest two or three weeks ago," Hackett said. "Although I spoke to Tony, I was keen to link up with Graham. As a young player I want to improve and he is a fantastic coach."

Right midfield has been a problem area for Hearts since the arrival of Rix, and Hackett will at least expand the coach's options. Samuel Camazzola, the incumbent under former manager George Burley, has yet to force his way back into the squad following injury, and inconsistency has dogged the two Lithuanians who have vied to replace him, Saulius Mikoliunas and Deividas Cesnauskis.

The latter took a slight knock this week but is able to play, and may start ahead of Hackett. A third Lithuanian, Nerijus Barasa, who joined earlier this month and can play at right-back or right midfield, is unavailable because of a hamstring injury.

Young striker Jamie Mole has been added to the squad, but Michal Pospisil and Calum Elliot will again start up front. Neil McCann, Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar are also out because of injury, although the loss of the former is offset by the return from suspension of Rudi Skacel, the club's top goalscorer. Steven Pressley will sit out the second of his two-game ban, with Christophe Berra again deputising for him, and Ibrahim Tall being added to the squad.

After watching his team lose to Kilmarnock last week and fall ten points behind Celtic, Rix knows another defeat would strengthen the belief at both Easter Road and Ibrox that Hearts can be overtaken in the race for the second Champions League place. "This is a massive match, not only because it's a derby, but there's a lot at stake as regards points in the SPL as well," the coach said.

"We've got to shake ourselves out of last week's performance, that's No1 priority. We watched the DVD [of the Kilmarnock game] yesterday, I pointed out a few things to the players, and hopefully we'll eradicate them tomorrow. It'll be a tough game for us, but it'll be tough for them as well. Fortunately at home we've done quite well, we've come out the blocks and looked good."

Rix received the qualified support of the Hearts chairman and acting chief executive Roman Romanov at yesterday's agm. "We are happy with Graham at the moment," Romanov said. "We could have better results, but it's not just Graham's fault - other factors contributed to that. He has the option to extend [his contract] and at the end of the season we will sit down and make our decision."

Taken from the Scotsman