Jorge Grant has heard all about the magic of European football from Nottingham Forest legend Des Walker. And as he puts roots down in Edinburgh with Hearts the midfielder can’t wait to branch out and make his first venture into continental competition count.
Grant grew up with Forest, Sampdoria and England legend Walker’s two sons, Tyler and Lewis, and came through the ranks at the City Ground with the former who is now at Coventry. Not only did he have Walker senior - who was a youth at Forest when Brian Clough’s side mixed it with the cream of Europe in the early 1980s - filling his head with tales from the club’s glory days but his coach Steve Chettle was another member of that Cloughy era.
The chance to taste the European stage was a big factor in the 27-year-old choosing Hearts over League One clubs in England when he left Peterborough two months ago. And now, as he prepares for the Jambos’ Europa League play-off crunch against Zurich on Thursday, he’s determined to make memories of his own.
