Hearts keen to land Motherwell striker Chris Porter

Porter is one of several strikers, including Chris Killen and Andrius Velicka, on a list of potential signing targets presented to Hearts' majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov by manager Csaba Laszlo.

The club have intimated their interest to Porter's representatives and are now awaiting a response. Laszlo is keen to recruit the 25-year-old in the window rather than sign him on a pre-contract agreement with his current Motherwell deal due to expire this summer.

However, Hearts face competition from English Championship sides Sheffield United, Norwich City and Blackpool plus an unnamed European club. Motherwell are requesting a fee of 200,000 to release Porter from the remaining six months of his contract.

He has scored seven goals this season, following on from a tally of 18 last year which propelled the Lanarkshire club towards European qualification.

Laszlo believes Porter could offer Hearts a much-needed killer instinct in attack. "He is a good player but I don't think it's only Hearts who have an interest in him. He is a regular scorer and a very interesting name. He is definitely a name on my list," said the Hungarian.

"Like any player, he must have the will to come. Porter is not the only name that is interesting me but he is a player who can make a difference in the striker position.

"He knows the league and this is always a big advantage. He is a young player and for every young player Heart of Midlothian must be interesting because a lot of young players get a chance to play in the SPL here.

"We have a lot of names. If we make a deal, everybody must be satisfied. The player, the selling club and the buying club. Making a deal is not easy and I don't want to take a player who is not satisfied because then you cannot expect a good performance.

"We are looking at what we can do in the transfer market. I gave my plan and some names that can be interesting for us, now the decision is the board's."