Hearts clear favourites to land Kilmarnock star Jamie Hamill and Zander Diamond

• Kilmarnock's Jamie Hamill and Aberdeen's Zander Diamond

Diamond, 26, has made Tynecastle his first-choice destination with his contract at Pittodrie expiring. He is close to reaching an agreement with Hearts which would see him reject interest from north and south of the border and move to Edinburgh on freedom of contract.

Sources close to the talks are hopeful that formal contract negotiations will be completed before the end of the month to ensure the defender is in place to begin pre-season training with Hearts on June 22.

Hamill, also a free agent, has held discussions with Hearts officials with further talks planned today. Although reports suggested he underwent a medical yesterday, the Evening News has learned that negotiations are not yet that far advanced. Both Hibs and Aberdeen have approached Hamill, who is likely to decide on his future within the next 48 hours.

The 24-year-old worked with

Jim Jefferies for seven years at Kilmarnock and, like Diamond, harbours considerable SPL experience.

He also offers versatility as a player equally reliable in either midfield or defence.

Sergejus Fedotovas, the Hearts director, expects new faces to be in place before the start of pre-season training. "We're definitely looking to strengthen the squad in a number of key areas. It's good we have identified targets and negotiations are underway," he said.

"In attack, midfield and defence, we're looking for fresh faces. We'll need to see how good we are, how lucky we are in terms of getting these players to Tynecastle, but I'm very confident we'll have a few more faces in the new season. I hope we'll have something organised before the team goes away in pre-season."