Hearts will make an official approach to Kilmarnock on Monday in a bid to secure Derek McInnes as their new manager.
Since Neil Critchley’s dismissal last month after six months as Tynecastle boss, McInnes has been the strong favourite to take over.
His Kilmarnock team beat Dundee 3-2 on Saturday to secure Scottish Premiership safety with a third straight victory in what has been an otherwise difficult season.
In the aftermath of the win McInnes would not be drawn on the reports linking him with a move to Tynecastle, saying there had been “no contact from club to club”.
However, Hearts have identified the 53-year-old as the man they want to take charge after sacking two head coaches this season in Critchley and Steven Naismith.
McInnes is an experienced manager in Scotland having started by taking St Johnstone to the top flight in 2009.
After a brief stint at Bristol City he then had seven years at Aberdeen where they never finished lower than fourth and won the League Cup in 2014.
McInnes departed Pittodrie in 2021 and took charge of Kilmarnock the following January, leading them to promotion back to the top flight and keeping them up on their return.
His spell at Rugby Park peaked last season when he guided the Ayrshire side to fourth place and European football.
Hearts themselves have had a turbulent season which started with their worst-ever beginning to a campaign and cost Naismith his job.
Critchley steered the club away from the bottom of the table but failed to get them into the top six and was dismissed, while there are changes off the pitch.
Brighton owner Tony Bloom is set to invest nearly 10m in the club, which has use of his Jamestown Analytics data company for recruitment.
