Hearts are to hold signing talks with Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty in the next 24 hours.

The Edinburgh side are keen to see Lafferty lead their attack next season and are hoping to persuade the free agent to make Tynecastle his next destination.

The 29-year-old has been linked with several clubs since leaving Norwich City and could return to Scotland, where he spent four years playing for Rangers from 2008 to 2012.

Since then the forward, who has scored 20 goals in 58 games for his country, has had spells with Sion in Switzerland and Palermo in Italy before three years with Norwich, who loaned him out to Birmingham City and Caykur Rizespor.

In recent years, Lafferty has worked with Hearts assistant coach Austin McPhee as part of the Northern Ireland set-up.