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Hearts transfer latest after Claudio Braga talks - and when Harry Milne will return

· Barry Anderson · 2026-08-12T14:35:49+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Hearts transfer latest after Claudio Braga talks - and when Harry Milne will return Wouter Vrancken is preparing his side to face Benfica at Tynecastle on Thursday Claudio Braga’s future remains a sensitive topic at Tynecastle Park, but so far Hearts have not received an acceptable concrete offer for last season’s Scottish Footballer of the Year. There is interest from French side Lyon, Turkish club Trabzonspor, plus other teams in England and America. Hearts want between £8m and £10m to sell the striker they signed for £430,000 from Norwegian side Aalesunds, and whose contract runs until summer 2028. Head coach Wouter Vrancken explained the latest on Braga ahead of Thursday’s Europa League third qualifying round, second leg, against Benfica in Edinburgh. He is keen to keep his best players but knows Braga’s exit before the transfer window closes on 3 September is more likely than unlikely. He did stress there have been no acceptable bids to date. “For Claudio? Not that I know. Nothing concrete that I know. So as long as it's not coming to me, I think he's staying at the moment,” smiled Vrancken. “I'm happy when I don't hear anything. Let's hope that it stays that way until the beginning of September.” Vrancken has held talks with Braga regarding his future. “Yeah, but that's between me and Claudio,” said the manager. “We're open to each other and the most important thing is that Claudio is a personality. As long as he's here, he will be 100 per cent committed and will go 100 per cent in the games - like you saw already in the last games. He's here now, so I work with him now. I don't know. I cannot watch in the future. He's a good player and it's a transfer window. So then you're always a little bit nervous if he stays or not, or he goes or not. The only thing we can do there as a club is be ready when it happens. Of course, I hope that I will keep working with him in September also. “I'm also keen to keep every good player with us. As a coach, you always want to keep your best players with you, but it's the world of football. You have to cope with that and know how the transfer window can be. And it's a responsibility for us as a club to be ready when something happens. Not only when players leave, but also when you see that you have a need somewhere. So you have to always be open for adaptations.” Hearts will still be without injured defenders Craig Halkett, Harry Milne, Stephen Kingsley and Malachi Fagan-Walcott against Benfica. Vrancken’s side are 6-1 down from last week’s first leg in Lisbon and, realistically, are set to drop into the Conference League play-off and meet Rapid Vienna. Milne should be fit to take part in that tie next week. “There are no injuries coming back tomorrow,” confirmed Vrancken. “I hope that Harry starts training one of these days. I think, for sure, after Inverness [on Sunday], he would be able to play again or train again for sure. Like a muscle injury, it's always dangerous to predict something. So we'll see week by week, day by day.” Sunday’s 4-0 Premiership win against Dundee United was notable for winger Calvin Miller’s performance as a deputy left-back. It remains to be seen if he will continue there against Benfica. “We will see. We don't have to talk too much. When I put Calvin there, I will say it five minutes before the game,” joked Vrancken, mindful that the player is not keen to play in defence any longer than is necessary. He did really well. Obviously, all of us know what his best position is. He is really flexible in this and he performs well everywhere he plays, even left full-back. So we'll see how we do tomorrow against a good side as well. “I think you have to be realistic, of course, in the game when you look at the first-leg result. I think the most important is to take the good feeling of Sunday towards this game and to have a good performance so that you, also against a side like Benfica, take some confidence about your performance towards the next game. A result would, for sure, increase the confidence level, I think. But also good performance will increase confidence levels. I think you cannot rule out the quality of Benfica, of course. Last year, they didn't lose one game and were third in the league. The only home game they lost was against Real Madrid. So it's a nice team to watch also. It's a quality team.”