Kevin Nisbet and Ryan Porteous are expected to leave Hibs within the next 24 hours with the pair set to net the Easter Road club more than £3 million in transfer fees and future add-ons.
Scotland striker Nisbet is in talks with Millwall while defender Porteous has also travelled to London to seal a move to English Championship rivals Watford. The Lions have tabled a potential club record-breaking £2.4 million bid to bring Nisbet south of the border and the 25-year-old was given the green light to travel to England in Thursday.
The attacker has held positive talks and is expected to finalise his move to the New Den before the clash with Aberdeen on Saturday. Nisbet has just battled back from a serious knee operation but has hit the ground running with seven goals in seven games since his return to action, and his exit will be a major blow for boss Lee Johnson.
Nisbet has 18 months remaining on his contract in Leith but was not going to sign an extension. Millwall boss Gary Rowett is hoping his goals can fire Millwall into the playoffs for the English Premier League. League One leaders Dunfermline will also benefit from Nisbet's move as a sell-on from the deal when they sold him to Hibs back in 2020.
Watford have also had an improved bid of around £300,000 for Scotland new boy Porteous accepted. It could be worth more than £500,000 if a number of contractual extras and a potentially future friendly against Hibs.
Championship rivals Blackburn bid more but Porteous made it clear he wanted to go to Vicarage Road. The defender, who came through the Hibees youth ranks, is in the final six months of his deal and Hibs knew he could have signed a pre-contract and walked for nothing in the summer.
Full-back Demetri Mitchell also left the capital on Thursday to complete a move to English League One side Exeter City. Exeter boss and former Hibs assistant boss Gary Caldwell made his move for the 26-year-old who had fallen out of favour under Lee Johnson.
Johnson said: ”This is a good move for Demi as it gives him the opportunity to play regular football again. We’d like to thank him for his hard work and wish him all the best for the future.”
Johnson and his backroom and recruitment teams have been working hard on defensive and striking replacements over the past 24 hours. They have identified a number of permanent and loan targets, as they wait to see what funds they will get from the sales of Nisbet and Porteous, and Johnson wants to get players in before Saturday’s home clash with struggling Aberdeen.
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