Georgian ace set to become Pop idol for Jam Tarts

GEORGIAN internationalist Giorgi Popkhadze is poised to become Valdas Ivanauskas' first signing for Hearts after arriving on trial at the club's training camp in Austria.

Millionaire owner Vladimir Romanov jetted in from eastern Europe last night to personally assess Popkhadze, 19, who is currently contracted to Olympiakos of Greece and can operate on the left side of midfield or defence.
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Popkhadze arrived at the team hotel in Windischgarsten early yesterday afternoon under a veil of secrecy, with even several members of the Hearts backroom staff unaware of his presence. Romanov rolled up in a chaffeur-driven BMW at 5.30pm, in time to watch the new trialist and the rest of the squad undergo a light training session at the local stadium last night.

There was a third arrival in the shape of new sporting director Eduard Malofeev, who has officially begun his technical role overseeing all areas of the footballing department.

Popkhadze is expected to play some part in tomorrow's friendly with Spartak Trnava whilst being considered by Romanov and head coach Valdas Ivanauskas as a direct replacement for Rudi Skacel. The Czech midfielder walked out on Hearts at the end of last month but remains contracted to the club while Neil McCann is still on the ascent towards full fitness.

Should they agree terms with Popkhadze, Hearts would be obliged to pay a fee to Olympiakos for a versatile young prospect, who has already accumulated five Georgian international caps.

Romanov is scheduled for detailed discussions with Ivanauskas over the weekend to finalise the deal for Popkhadze, and decide which new players Hearts will move for in the coming weeks. As well as the Georgian, Romanov has still to deliver a definite answer on the whether he intends to sign the South Korean World Cup striker Ahn Jung-hwan from Duisburg.

Ahn is being coveted by two Premiership sides but the lure of Champions League football has led him to favour Hearts. However, the player will not allow any further deliberating.

His agent, Tom Sanders, said today: "I have spoken with Valdas and he said he will tell Romanov that he wants Ahn. I told him I need an answer. I said, 'don't wait too long or it will be too late'.

"They have to give an answer in the next couple of days because the clubs in the Premiership who want Ahn have given us a deadline of this weekend. I have to know what Hearts want, if I don't get an answer soon it will be too difficult because Ahn will pursue the other offers.

"The Champions League is interesting to Ahn but he wants to hear something, either a 'yes' or a 'no'. Valdas assures me that he has a strong interest in the player but it seems the communication there is not so good."

Meanwhile, Paul Hartley is set to depart the Hearts camp to see a specialist about his groin problem after the Evening News revealed on Wednesday that he is now a major injury concern for the club's first Champions League qualifying game on July 25/26.

Hartley said: "The physio is trying to organise something over the next couple of days. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to go yet but I want it done as soon as possible. I don't want to wait and try to come back into training and end up making things worse.

"I won't be going back to Scotland, I'll be going somewhere in Europe to try and get it sorted. I'll probably leave the camp and then come back at some point next week. There won't be any surgery involved, It'll just be looked at to see the extent of the problem."

• CONTRARY to reports, Steven Pressley has not suffered stiffness in his chest in Austria and has participated in all training sessions.

Taken from the Scotsman