Hearts: Jim Jeffries heads to Lithuania with list of signing targets

JIM JEFFERIES is preparing to fly to Lithuania in the next few days armed with a list of more than 20 potential signing targets to present to Hearts' majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov.

• Jim Jefferies has identified a 20-strong list of potential signing targets

A two-day summit between manager and owner in Eastern Europe will decide which players Hearts move for during the summer transfer window, with Jefferies keen to recruit as many as seven new faces in all positions.

Exactly how many signings are sanctioned will depend on which players leave Tynecastle, but Jefferies is keen for Romanov to peruse his extensive list of candidates following last weekend's initial meeting with club director Sergejus Fedotovas in Edinburgh.

Four places in the first-team squad have already been freed up by the departures of skipper Michael Stewart, Jose Goncalves, Christian Nade and Rocky Visconte.

That number will rise to five unless Larry Kingston is offered a contract extension.

Jefferies intends to recruit predominantly British players in their places and is hopeful of moving several fringe players out of the club, including centre-back Dawid Kucharski and striker Jamie Mole.

He will also arrange loan deals for next season to augment the development of several young players, such as Gordon Smith and Scott Robinson.

Jefferies returns to Scotland on Sunday, after which he hopes his recruitment drive to reshape the Hearts squad will begin in earnest.

He has already been linked with Kilmarnock's Craig Bryson and Aberdeen's Mark Kerr.