Frankie Kent has say on Hearts hijack attempt and reveals why he stuck with Jambos

New Hearts defender Frankie Kent was sold on a move to Tynecastle by former team-mates.

In announcing Kent’s signature, the Jambos claimed that they fought off late competition for the 27-year-old’s signature from another Scottish club, just as he was about to complete his move north from Peterborough United. “I’d prefer not to answer that one!” Kent responded when asked about the identity of the outfit. “It was Hearts all the way, to be fair. It was flattering to have other people interested in you. That was nice.”

The move to Hearts was so far down the line at that stage that little could be done to change Kent’s mind. A former Arsenal youth who has spent his whole life in the south of England, a change of scenery was what he wanted. Turning down the Edinburgh side would not have curried favour with one of his close pals either, with Jambos midfielder Jorge Grant – a friend and former Posh team-mate – in his ear to sign on the dotted line.

"it's something new, something fresh,” continued Kent. “My whole career has been England, even down to where I've been living. It's really exciting challenge for me, to test myself, a different style of football. I'm looking forward to getting going.

“I've followed Hearts because Granty [Jorge Grant] came up here. I saw the success they had last year. I was looking for a new challenge. The stadium is lovely, the training ground is lovely, big fanbase, big club. It's something that I couldn't turn down and something that I jumped at. Once I found out about the interest, I got on to Granty pretty early just asking him normal questions. He had nothing bad to say about it.”

Kent will get his first taste of Scottish football on Saturday afternoon when Hearts travel to Perth to take on St Johnstone in their cinch Premiership opener. The defender’s last match was a disastrous play-off defeat while at Peterborough against Sheffield Wednesday, part of a team that threw away a 4-0 first-leg advantage – “It was crazy but that’s long gone now”. He would be forgiven for not knowing much about Saints, but revealed he has a spy in the camp.

“I do know something about St Johnstone, funnily enough,” said Kent. “A good friend that used to play at Colchester with me is Drey Wright and we’re still really good friends now. We’re in contact nearly enough every day and he’s kept me updated with all the stuff that’s been going on there – although not giving too much away. But it’s good to have another person up here who’s involved as well.”

Kent, who is likely to start at McDiarmid Park in the heart of defence, is clear on his ambitions this season. “Do as well as well we can,” he stated. “I know that's a pretty generic answer but push ourselves every game, try and showcase ourselves and be a good team. Finish as high as we can and go as far as we can in cup competitions. I'm looking forward to it.”