More squad upheaval at Hearts under Ann Budge than Vladimir Romanov

Hearts are set for another squad overhaul in the summer with only 12 senior players under contract.

Since the club’s campaign in the Championship, 89 players have played for the club under the stewardship of Ann Budge and director of football/head coach Craig Levein.

It is significantly more than the 70 players who played for the club during the first four full seasons when Vladimir Romanov was in control of the club.

Former controversial Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov. Picture: AP

The club’s former owner was criticised for running a bloated first-team squad. Over two seasons there was an influx of Lithuanian imports plus cameos from players such as Tiago Costa and Arkadiusz Klimek.

However, 19 more players have been used between 2014-2015 and this season, such has been the constant reconstruction of the Hearts squad.

The senior professionals contracted beyond the summer are Michael Smith, John Souttar, Christophe Berra, Danny Amankwaa, Kyle Lafferty, Arnaud Djoum, Jack Hamilton, Don Cowie, Ross Callachan, Malaury Martin, Conor Sammon and Liam Smith.

Jon McLaughlin, Aaron Hughes and Prince Buaben’s contracts expire, while key players Demetri Mitchell, David Milinkovic, Joaquim Adao and Connor Randall, plus Steven Naismith, all see their loan deals expire.