Heart of Midlothian is making progress on two new signings, with one already in Edinburgh and the other expected to arrive this week.

Derek McInnes has lined up Sabah Kerjota and Pierre Landry Kabore, hoping to bring more pace and physicality to his Hearts lineup.

Both players’ contracts are being finalised, but Hearts fans may have to wait a while before seeing them. Albanian winger Kerjota will join from Italian lower-league club US Sambenedettese. His season ended in early May, so he’ll need to catch up. He is anticipated to provide pace and directness on the right side of the attack.

Kabore, meantime, is eager to play, but more paperwork must be completed before the Burkina Faso international forward can be formally confirmed as a Hearts player and begin playing for the club. The 24-year-old will come from Estonian club Trans Narva, where he has 22 goals in 20 matches. He may make his League Cup debut in the third match of the group stage. “One of them is here right now, in Edinburgh,” McInnes explained, “and the other one will arrive tomorrow. “We can’t state anything officially except that Kerjota may be the easier and faster option due to rules and regulations.

“But he hasn’t had a pre-season, so we’ll have to wait a little while for him to catch up and get some work in. “Kabore is ready but unable to play.

Not accessible on Saturdays or Tuesdays, but potentially next Saturday.

Hearts have allowed two of their younger players to leave on loan this week, with Liam McFarlane joining Alloa Athletic and Lewis Neilson transferring to Falkirk. “There’s a few enquiries for one or two of the younger lads,” McInnes told me. “We’ve got Liam McFarlane and huge Lewis Neilson out on fantastic loans for both guys.

“When you have one or two injuries in the group, we had 21 outfield guys workout today, which is a decent number to work with. “In recent weeks, it has been 26 or 27, which is problematic not only in terms of training and working conditions, but also financially.

“As teams are formed and players may not receive adequate playing time, this will occur organically; however, we have not reached that point yet.”

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