The 30-year-old has been without a club since he left the Perth outfit in June and was linked with Dundee United and clubs in England during the summer.

A member of Scotland squads last season, Hearts boss Robbie Neilson decided to move in and sign him as back-up to current No 1 Craig Gordon. He is likely to replace Ross Stewart as the Jambos’ reserve keeper.

Commenting on the three-year deal, Neilson said: “We’ve been working away on this one for a while so I’m delighted to get it over the line.

Zander Clark was a free agent after leaving St Johnstone.

“I’m sure our fans will know all about Zander’s abilities having seen him feature against us for St Johnstone over the years, so it’s great to be able to bring him here to Hearts.

“We look for quality players and that’s what we’ve got in Zander. He’ll provide competition to Craig Gordon and Ross Stewart which will, ultimately, raise the quality of performances in our squad.”

Hearts sporting director Joe Savage said: “Zander’s quality is obviously known to everyone and because of that we’ve had to patient in bringing him in due to the options that were available to him, but we’re delighted that he’s chosen us.“He’s always shone for St Johnstone, particularly when he helped them to a cup double, he always stood out so have him here providing competition in our goalkeeping department is great news.“It’s another example of us using the free agent market wisely. Such is the nature of Scottish football, we can’t go out and spend millions of pounds on players so the free agent market is very important to us.

"We got Barrie McKay a week after the deadline closed last season, and look at how well he’s turned out. The hope is that if Zander is called upon then he can make the same kind of impact, and we’re all sure that he will.”

Hearts sign goalkeeper Zander Clark on three-year deal as potential Craig Gordon successor