Hearts have suffered a blow in their transfer pursuit of Scotland international Lawrence Shankland with his club side Beerschot insisting a 'transfer is not an option at this moment' and that no bids have been received for the striker at this point.
The Belgian outfit suffered relegation from the Jupiler Pro League - the top division in the country - with the former Dundee United and Ayr United striker netting five goals in the league following his £1million transfer to the club last summer.
Relegation from the top flight prompted speculation that he could return to Scotland for the new season with Robbie Neilson a huge fan having worked together at United. He is a name sporting director Joe Savage has previously discussed with the Jambos 'aware' of him.
The Tynecastle club are gearing up for a European adventure this coming season with the guarantee of Europa Conference League group stage football heading to the capital at a minimum with Hearts entering the Europa League at the play-off round.
READ MORE: Hearts star Liam Boyce 'wanted' by Aberdeen and Ipswich as duo eye transfer raid on Jambos
Alan Forrest, Lewis Neilson and Kye Rowles have already checked in on permanent deals with Jorge Grant and Alex Cochrane looking like they could follow the trio in. The latter impressed and played a key role last season during his loan spell from Brighton.
Shankland was another name in the frame but it they could be left disappointed in their efforts with Beerschot taking a firm stance over the hitman.
A briefing given to local media claimed they have received no offers for the 26-year-old.
A Beerschot spokesperson stated: "A transfer is not an option at the moment and we have not yet received any official offer for Lawrence Shankland from any clubs."
Hearts are currently back in pre-season as they gear up for the new season.
Neilson has been left very impressed with the conditions of his players.
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Craig Gordon will hook up with the squad in Spain while Nathaniel Atkinson and Kye Rowles will return following the warm weather camp.
He said: “Craig will join us over in Spain and Atkinson and Rowles will join us when we get back.
“That gives them a bit of time off because they had a lot of travelling, especially the Australian boys having been in Doha. They will only have been off for less than two weeks so their fitness levels should be fine.
“The first couple of days of pre-season are just testing day for the boys – a bit of running, heart screening and all the medical stuff.
"The actual on-pitch stuff starts today with a double session and then we fly out early doors on Friday. We have our first pre-season game over there [against Europa FC from Gibraltar].
“The boys have come back in very good shape. They had a couple of weeks off doing nothing and then they had a programme to follow and they have all done it.
"They are in really good condition so that means we can start training at a really high level.”
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