Hearts want more transfer arrivals as they prepare for life after James Penrice

The 26-year-old has been granted permission to complete a move to Greek Super League side AEK Athens, who have brokered a deal believed to be in region of £2 million plus add-ons. Penrice left Hearts’ pre-season training camp in Spain early on Friday morning to link up with AEK, who are currently training in the Netherlands.

Penrice made 46 appearances for Hearts last season and was one of their most impressive players in a largely underwhelming campaign. He arrived on a free transfer from Livingston 12 months ago and his sale brings in a sizeable profit for the Tynecastle outfit.

Harry Milne and Stephen Kingsley, who is currently nursing an injury, are Hearts’ remaining senior options at left back and head coach Derek McInnes may look to reinforce in that area. Despite bringing in five new players so far - Christian Borchgrevink, Stuart Findlay, Oisin McEntee, Claudio Braga and Alexandros Kyziridis - the manager is keen to add more depth. Negotiations are currently ongoing for two wingers in Albanian Sabah Kerjota, who plays for US Sambenedettese in Italy’s Serie C, and Burkina Faso internationalist Pierre Landry Kabore from Estonian club JK Narva Trans.

“I still think for us to be the team that I've envisaged - and obviously if I'm getting this opportunity, it needs to be a team that I want as well and how I see it, how it’s playing - we're still two or three short I think for that to be perfect,” McInnes said from Hearts’ training base. “We're a bit overloaded in certain areas, but we've got some good options as well in certain areas. So I feel really happy and grateful that we've got those options. I still think we could do with two or three.”

Hearts return to competitive action next weekend when they take on Dunfermline Athletic in the Premier Sports Cup. They signed off their time in Spain with a 3-1 win over English League 2 outfit Crawley Town on Friday evening.