Hearts have announced the season-long loan signing of Stephen Humphrys from English Championship side Wigan Athletic as their first bit of business on deadline day.
Boss Robbie Neilson confirmed after Wednesday night's Premier Sports Cup round of 16 exit against Kilmarnock that his squad needed more bodies ahead of their Europa Conference League group stage campaign. Injuries to Liam Boyce and Kye Rowles longer term have also prompted a more aggressive approach in the market's closing stages.
Humphrys has scored seven times from 52 appearances since joining Wigan last summer and previously spent time at Fulham, Southend United and Rochdale. Neilson said: “It’s no secret that we’ve been looking at strengthening our forward area after Liam Boyce’s injury, and I’m delighted that we’ve managed to do so by bringing Stephen in. He’ll bring a big presence up top and a lot of experience despite only being 24-years-old.
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“His goals earned him a move to Wigan and we’re confident that he can continue to find the back of the net up here as we gear up for a busy period of domestic and European football.”
Sporting Director Joe Savage said: “We’ve been aware of Stephen for a while thanks to the sterling job our recruitment team do in identifying talent.
“Because of this, we were able to move quickly to bring him in and we’re very happy to be able to call Stephen a Hearts player."
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