Hearts plan January transfer signings, 'talked about two or three players', Callum Paterson latest

Hearts are working towards the strengthening of Robbie Neilson’s squad with the addition of two or three players in January as interest in Callum Paterson remains.

At the club’s 116th AGM held in the Gorgie Suite at Tynecastle Park on Thursday both the chief executive Andrew McKinlay and chairwoman Ann Budge confirmed there are funds available to improve Neilson's squad following a testing first half of the season which saw the team juggle European and domestic commitments. The club have been scouring the market from Japan and South Korea to South America. McKinlay revealed “a lot of work” has taken place behind the scenes by the recruitment team with regards to possible arrivals.

He said: “It’s not so much a number, Robbie will have a view on places that he wants, positions he wants to do. We’ll say, ‘that’s fine’. He has talked about two or three players and none of that is contingent on anything going out. We’re comfortable with what he wants to do in January, there is already a lot of work going on around players coming in, or a couple of players coming in. They might not end up working, these things sometimes look like they will happen and they don’t. We’re sitting in the middle of December and if they come off we’ve probably done a lot of the work already for January.”

One possible arrival could be former Hearts star Callum Paterson. Neilson recently confirmed his interest and it is a move the club continue to work on.

“He is someone we are definitely interested in," McKinlay said. “We would like to maybe do something there but there is nothing concrete to say. He is under contract to Sheffield Wednesday and it might be that they decide to keep him until the end of the season when he'd be a free agent. He's certainly someone I think would excite the fans who saw him last time he was here. He's got a good record here.”

With regards to a loan or permanent deal, he added: “It would depend and probably be determined by Sheffield Wednesday and what they are prepared to do.”