Hearts FC

Spanish winger Jesus Manuel Santana Abreu aims to excite the Hearts support after signing a three-year contract following his release by Tenerife.

The 24-year-old, known as Suso, impressed with UD Fuerteventura on loan last season, scoring nine goals for the Spanish Second Division outfit.

“I like to take players on one versus one and provide the final pass into the box,” he told Hearts’ website.

“I am a quick player and an aggressive player. And I like to score goals.”

Suso, as he will be named on the club shirt, was at Tynecastle for a medical on Monday and will join up with the rest of the squad when they return for pre-season training on Thursday.

He thought he might have to adapt to the Scottish style of play but suggested that his time at Fuertventura had helped him prepare.
“In the Spanish Second Division B, there is a similarity with the physicality and I will have to get used to that straight away in Scotland,” said Suso.

He is also looking forward to tasting European competition for the first time when Hearts begin their Europa League campaign in two months.

“It is very exciting to be involved in this sort of competition,” said Suso, who plays on the right of midfield.

“I want to work hard and help the club do as well as possible.”

Suso becomes Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo’s second summer signing after midfielder Ian Black’s arrival from Inverness Caledonian Thistle on freedom of contract.

Laszlo had been monitoring the winger for some time having seen him impress on loan.

“I think he can do a good job for us,” said the manager.

“He has pace and also a focus for the goal, which are very positive qualities for the team.”

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Although coveted by both Csaba Laszlo and Vladimir Romanov, Hartley has yet to receive a formal offer from Tynecastle following the expiry of his Celtic contract. Tony Mowbray, the new manager at Parkhead, has not made any official moves to keep the 32-year-old Scotland midfielder.

Hartley travelled to Greece on Monday to enter talks with Iraklis officials and has been offered a two-year deal worth in the region of £5000 a week. He is due to give the club a decision within 48 hours.

Another player whose future has been heavily debated in recent months is Larry Kingston, however, the Ghanaian internationalist is determined to complete his Hearts contract, which expires in June 2010. Persistent injury problems hindered Kingston last season but he said today that he hopes to remain fit for season 2009-10.

“I have one season to play for Hearts and hope to feature week in and week out without any injuries,” he said. “My family is settled and I’m also happy with the contract that I have.

“Before the winter break I had numerous offers from other clubs but could do little about them since I got injured prior to the transfer deadline. So now I want to concentrate on helping this team win trophies and hopefully at the end of the season we’ll see what happens. The 2008-09 season was the worst in my career as a professional footballer as I was plagued with a number of injuries. It has been frustrating against the backdrop that I started the season very well compared with the previous one.

“It was a season I had pencilled in to get onto the scoring charts more often since I got nine goals in the previous campaign. I had it in mind to score at least ten, especially after getting three goals in eight games during the early stages of the season. But, unfortunately, I got injured and that saw me miss most of the second half of the campaign.

“The manager really missed me though it’s really difficult to measure my absence. I guess the look on his face summed it up. He told me his wish of having me free from injury for a whole season. It was clear that he had been saddened with me being on the sidelines.

“I think next season is going to be difficult for us because we have lost two or three of our key players whom we are yet to replace. However, despite the financial constraints the club is facing, the coach has built a good young team with incredible potential. I believe we will be ready for the challenge. I hope to have an injury-free period next season but being able to guarantee my place in the team depends on me being fit at all times, though I always bring something different to the team.”

Hearts winger Andy Driver, currently in Sweden on international duty with England Under-21s, believes he could end the summer by helping his country win the European Under-21 Championship. The winger achieved his first cap in Monday night’s final group match, a 1-1 draw against Germany, and believes the England squad has the potential to reach the final.

“I think we can do well. We’ve got the quality to win it but we’ve got to take it a game at a time,” said Driver. “I found out I was playing against Germany on the morning before the game. I had a feeling that I might get a chance. It was a case of the manager deciding to stick with the same team or go with other players.

“We had trained really hard so he decided to show faith in us. I felt the game went well. It was a big pitch and there were lots of chances to get on the ball. You enjoy having quality around you, and everyone reads the game so well. The manager thought I did well. I had not played for seven weeks so I was finding it hard to catch my breath.”

Scotsman