Hearts set to finalise deal for Zaliukas

HEARTS were today expecting to finalise the signing of FBK Kaunas midfielder Marius Zaliukas after failing to obtain international clearance for the player in time for him to face Falkirk at the weekend.

Head coach Valdas Ivanauskas was hopeful that Zaliukas' transfer would be cleared in time for him to take a place on the bench on Saturday. His efforts were in vain although the move has not suffered any hiccups and was due to go through today as a mere formality.

Zaliukas, 22, played for Hearts in last month's friendly with Osasuna and will offer cover in the defensive midfield role, where Ivanauskas has been left short recently due to injuries to the Frenchman Julien Brellier.

Assistant coach John McGlynn looked forward to welcoming him on board. "We tried to get clearance for Marius on Friday but it wasn't through by 5pm so he didn't get registered for the weekend game," said McGlynn. "I expect him to be registered today and be available for our next game."

Recent signing Mauricio Pinilla is also nearing the kind of physical condition that will see him challenge for a first-team place. "He hadn't trained for a while but he's now done quite a it of work with us and could get involved soon," said McGlynn.

Meanwhile, majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov has moved to defend his recruitment of Russian Anatoli Korobochka as director of sport at Tynecastle despite naming Eduard Malofeev in the same position as recently as June.

Malofeev was appointed "sporting director" by Romanov but the Russian banker now admits that the former Soviet Union and FBK Kaunas coach is merely a consultant as part of a three-pronged management team.

"Korobochka is the director of sport, Malofeev is the consultant and Valdas is head coach," said Romanov. "All three of them have my full support."

Korobochka, 51, has previous experience of his position after holding an overseeing football development role with CSKA Moscow.

Hearts are also adamant that any prospective involvement in the UEFA Cup would not be compromised by the presence of Kaunas in the same competition.

FIFA legislation forbids one individual controlling more than one club in the same tournament, but Romanov's official involvement with Kaunas is through one of his companies being a club sponsor. A Hearts spokesperson said: "We are totally relaxed about the possibility of both Hearts and Kaunas being involved in the same UEFA tournament because Vladimir Romanov has no official connection to Kaunas."

Taken from the Scotsman