Heart of Midlothian are hoping to have Pierre Landry Kabore and Tomas Bent Magnusson in their squad for Monday’s Scottish Premiership opener against Aberdeen.

While Kabore’s work permit is being processed, the club is still working on signing the Icelandic midfielder.

Kabore, a Burkina Faso international, has been in the country for a few weeks, and the club had hoped to have him confirmed before the Sunderland game so he could play in the friendly and the behind-closed-doors game against Dundee on Wednesday.

However, they have had to wait for the Home Office to sign off on the final documents.

Derek McInnes stated, “We’ve done everything we can on Landry. “We do not anticipate any issues with why it has not been rubber-stamped.

I believe it is simply a matter of volume and timing. There is nothing to indicate that there will be a problem, and there is also nothing to say when it will occur.

“We’ve done all we could. We’ve been given every indication that there is no problem. It’s just a volume issue.”

Frustrating situation

It has left Kabore in limbo, with McInnes expressing sympathy for the player’s situation, which is beyond his control.

“I feel for him because normally, a new signing, you come, just bursting to get going,” said the coach. “There are times when a slight delay is necessary.

“But I believe for him, the enjoyment and feel-good factor of all of that is dwindling because it is simply frustrating. You see teammates going out and training every day, preparing for games. “We just try to keep the boy’s head up, honestly.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to participate yet. But we’re trying to do all we can as a club to support him and he seems in good spirits. He understands where it’s at.

“We just want that to be resolved as soon as possible. We’d like to think we can get both lads in for Monday night.”

Magnusson progress

Hearts are making good progress with the signing of Magnusson, the 22-year-old Icelandic midfielder from Valur.

He is in the country and it is a case of finalising all the paperwork for him to be involved.  All going well, an announcement could be made sooner rather than later for a player.

“He’s just not been able to train yet,” McInnes said. “But we’re hoping that if we can get that side of it done, he can maybe train over the weekend, hopefully, but we don’t know.

“Until I’m told differently, we’re still working towards getting him registered for Monday.”

Squad size and outgoings

The additions of Kabore and Magnusson will bring the first-team roster to 32. McInnes and the club are fully aware that players will need to leave between now and the end of the transfer window. However, it is important to note that squad size has not hampered the implementation of necessary squad changes. “I’m not going to be blasé about that,” McInnes stated.

“With the number of players we currently have, the window cannot close. “But when you look at it, we have Gordon, McCart, Hof, Baningime, Finlay Pollock, Kabore, Magnusson, 7-8 players who may not be available for Monday right away. So when you factor all that in, there’s not actually that many left over.

“But if everyone is fit, there is obviously a problem. And I am well aware that we need to cut costs and reduce the squad size. “The club has been extremely supportive because many clubs will insist on getting players out before bringing them in.

However, they have placed a high level of trust in us to complete our tasks and to make the necessary changes to the squad. “We don’t want to stop doing what we need to do to bring players in. We can’t let too many players prevent us from doing what we want. And the board has been very supportive and understanding.

“Equally, I understand that there must be a natural process, and that a few players will need to move on in order to play regular football.

And these discussions have occurred and are ongoing.” He went on to say, “We have a lot of good players, and I’m sure there will be a lot of interest in many of them.” Clubs will look at which players aren’t playing regularly, and I’m confident that many of our players will be appealing to other clubs.

How close to the squad being complete

Hearts have been proactive in their recruitment efforts as a result of last season’s underperformance and a new head coach who prefers certain types of players.

The number of additions is expected to rise to nine, and McInnes confirmed that they are “very close” to having the squad he wants for the season. He also emphasised the significance of Lawrence Shankland’s new contract within that.

“We obviously tried to identify getting a bit more pace, a bit more physicality, and I think we’ve got that,” McInnes told reporters. “Obviously, re-signing Lawrence was an important part of that. “I believe every striker we have can complement Lawrence.

Lawrence, in my opinion, was the most important player in this situation because he was a natural goal scorer. “A lot of the new signings have shown a glimpse of why we brought them to the club, and hopefully there will be more of that to come.

“We are still a long way from closing the window. So many things can happen between now and then, but I believe that if players are injured in the long run or players leave, that will free up some space.

“But I think if we can get these two done, then it’s just important that we try and free up some space and try and move one or two lads on to get some regular football, because we’re not going to be able to provide that for everybody, clearly.”

Injury latest

In addition to the two new signings, McInnes hopes to have three first-team players available on Monday. While Calem Nieuwenhof and Beni Baning still have work to do, Christian Borchgrevink “is fine”. “He trained more or less the full session yesterday, trained the full session today, no adverse effects,” McInnes told me.

“So he is good to go. “Nieuwenhof, I believe, is in full training on Saturday, so as long as that has no effect, I believe he will be fine. A little running today with the medical team, and more tomorrow. All going well, train on Saturday.

“Beni has a little bit more to do. I believe Beni will be running tomorrow as well. Straight lines are fine with him. The nature of his injury, more than Hof’s, is simply that minor impact on the inside of the knee.”

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