By Barry Anderson
Whilst Hearts remain keen to strike a deal for the Kazakhstani winger Islam Chesnokov this summer, head coach Derek McInnes fears he will need to wait longer. Chesnokov signed a pre-contract to join the Edinburgh club in November after his Tobol Kostanay contract expires and McInnes is now planning around that probability. He is confident that the 25-year-old is worth waiting for and believes he can make an impact whenever he arrives in Scotland. Hearts tried to sign Chesnokov in January this year but Tobol rejected their offer. Having agreed the pre-contract, Tynecastle officials want a transfer as soon as possible before the summer window closes. That would avoid Chesnokov arriving in November and being unable to register as a Hearts player until the January transfer window opens. Although the player is ready to make the move, Tobol are resisting Hearts鈥 attempts to reach an agreement. Chesnokov is their star player and they want to keep him as long as possible while they challenge for the Kazakhstani Premier League title. They currently sit six points behind leaders Astana after 13 matches but have two games in hand. Chesnokov has scored six goals and claimed two assists in the league so far this season. The current timeline for his switch to Scotland is November and McInnes is working on the assumption that is not going to change. 鈥淲e’re no further forward,鈥 he explained at Hearts鈥 pre-season training base in Spain. 鈥淭here’s a wee bit of an impasse where he’s still a key player for his current team and I don’t think they’re actively encouraging offers from us to get him. It’s not as if they’re teasing us or anything with an offer. It needs to be more. We’re not really getting that sort of dialogue. 鈥淢y fear is that they maybe want him to stay at the end of their campaign, pushing him down the line for us. But I think he’s worth waiting for. We’ve done a pre-contract, we might need to wait a bit longer for that, unfortunately. Hopefully we can still find a way.鈥 Hearts are likely to sign another right-sided winger for the start of the new Premiership season if negotiations on Chesnokov do not progress. 鈥淭he priority was a bit more pace, players happier playing in wide areas and a bit more physicality,鈥 added McInnes. 鈥淚 still think, while we’re getting there, we’re still a bit short of that at the minute.鈥 The club have already brought in six players so far this summer in the shape of Norwegian right-back Christian Borchgrevink, Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis, Belgian striker Elton Kabangu, Irish midfielder Oisin McEntee, Portuguese striker Claudio Braga and Scottish centre-back Stuart Findlay. McInnes explained on Tuesday that talks to re-sign striker Lawrence Shankland had also reached a stalemate. Again, if that situation does not change then at least one more forward is likely to arrive. Asked about other signing targets in Shankland鈥檚 position, McInnes replied: 鈥淵eah, we’ve probably stepped that up, but we were looking at alternatives. You try and cover every eventuality and that’s what we’ve got to continue to do. 鈥淔rom a football point of view, I’ve said about how beneficial Lawrence would be for us and how much we’re really keen to get him. But as a manager, you don’t always get what you want and you sometimes just have to accept that. I think that while it’s not a ‘no’ we’ve got to try and still live in hope, but I do think as the days go by it’s becoming a bit more challenging with the fact he’s not here [in Spain] already.鈥 READ MORE: Borchgrevink鈥檚 unique Hearts transfer tale – and why he bared his backside