Hearts set to snub Rangers bid for Wallace

Hearts are expected to knock back an improved bid from Rangers for Lee Wallace, but the Evening News understands the Scotland defender would find it difficult to turn down a move to Ibrox should the Jambos receive an acceptable offer for him.

The Gers have approached Hearts with a bid of around 1million, a considerable improvement on the 300,000 they offered days before and a significant fee for a defender in the final year of his contract.

Should the Glasgow club table a further increased bid, it is thought both Hearts and Wallace would be open to negotiating a transfer. The player's agent, Gary Mackay, says a seven-figure sum and the lure of a move to Ibrox would be hard to reject.

"When it comes to the big two in Glasgow and the Premiership in England, at this moment in time – especially with the Champions League – everyone wants to play at the highest level and Lee is no different," said Mackay. "Lee acknowledges all Hearts have done to get him where he is. He is an Edinburgh boy and has been at Hearts a long time.

"I agreed with Hearts that the first offer wasn't realistic. It's not for Lee Wallace or Gary Mackay to say – only Hearts – but I think 1million for a player in the last year of his contract is a realistic evaluation." Jambos boss Jim Jefferies would prefer to keep the player at Tynecastle but hopes his club receives a handsome fee if Wallace does leave.

He said: "We want to keep Lee, but with this being the final year of his contract it's a difficult situation. I hope that if he does get sold, we'll get the right price for him." Meanwhile, Jefferies today said he will decide by the weekend whether or not to offer a contract to Icelandic trialist Kari Arnason – while he will leave it up to the club's hierarchy to thrash out a deal with Rudi Skacel, who is keen to stay at Tynecastle.

The Jambos boss has used the club's pre-season training camp in the northern Tuscany region of Italy to assess free agent Arnason, who has won 17 caps for his country.

Jefferies says the squad's journey back to the Capital on Saturday offers an opportunity to speak to the former Plymouth Argyle centre back, 26, who was scheduled to train once again today with his prospective new team mates and has looked strong in practice sessions so far this week. "He was recommended to us and we asked him to come across because you get a better feel once you see him more often," said Jefferies. "My plan is to wait until the week's out and maybe sometime when we're at the airport or back up the road on the bus - that's when we'll maybe have a chat."

Jefferies, meanwhile, remains keen to secure out-of-contract talisman Rudi Skacel. "Rudi and I had a chat about it - he wants it resolved, so do I," said Jefferies who has not stopped looking for new players, adding: "We've just got something on the go at the moment, but there's a bit to go on it yet."