Vlad closing in on targets

HEARTS are closing in on key transfer targets as owner Vladimir Romanov tries to ensure his team progresses to the Champions League group stage next season.

And he will be sitting down to thrash out deals with several prospective new players over the next couple of weeks.

Following the club's historic Tennent's Scottish Cup final victory over Gretna at the weekend, Romanov is not resting on his laurels.

The Lithuanian banker has declared that winning the SPL championship and doing well in Europe are his ambitions for the coming season and, with that in mind, he is ready to splash the cash to bolster the Tynecastle squad.

He is currently out of the country although he will meet with a number of players and their representatives while he is abroad.

However, the Evening News understands that the influx of new arrivals will not be on the same scale as in January when 11 players signed on the dotted line with the Gorgie club.

With the Capital club's squad already boasting some 35 players and Romanov insistent that no more than one or two will leave over the summer, the emphasis now is on bringing in quality rather than quantity.

"There will be meetings over the next few weeks with players we've targeted and their agents," said a spokesperson for Hearts.

"Mr Romanov's focus is on strengthening the squad again and there are specific areas that they are looking at.

"We have an important European campaign coming up and there will certainly be several new faces arriving to try to boost our chances of doing well."

Czech ace Rudi Skacel has almost certainly played his last game for the club with Southampton being linked with a move for a prolific midfielder.

And Romanov is also believed to be seeking the signature of a top-class striker to try to bridge the gap between his own side and SPL Champions Celtic.

Cameroon internationalist Albert Meyong, top scorer in Portugal last season, is the latest name to be linked with Hearts after his club Belenenses were relegated from the top flight.

However nobody at Hearts was today prepared to comment on reports linking him with a move to Scotland.

Meanwhile, former Scotland boss Craig Brown believes Billy Davies would be the ideal candidate to step into the managerial hot seat at Tynecastle.

The Preston North End manager has been linked with a move to Tynecastle in the summer, ahead of Valdas Ivanauskas.

Brown, for one, believes that Davies is one of the most promising young coaches in the business and would be a good ambassador for the club, saying: "Billy would be a wonderful manager for Hearts. He has got every attribute, he's superb in every respect.

"He has complete football knowledge, terrific enthusiasm and is marvellous on the training ground."

Brown is believed to have thrown his hat into the ring to become Hearts' new director of football following the sacking of Jim Duffy from that position two months ago.

However the former Scotland coach, currently working in a part-time advisory role with Fulham, would only add: "That is all hypothetical. I would be happy to work with Billy Davies again."

Taken from the Scotsman