Hearts have completed the signing of Beni Baningime on a three-year deal.
The DR Congo born midfielder has joined from Everton and he came through the ranks highly-rated, even captaining their U23 side and made his senior debut against Chelsea in 2017.
In total, Baningime has made 12 appearances for Everton's first-team but he didn't seem to have a long-term future on Merseyside after failing to make a major impact during recent loan spells with Derby County and Wigan Athletic.
At the age of 22, Baningime is keen to play regular football, and he joins the Jambos ahead of this weekend's Premiership opener against Celtic at Tynecastle.
After winning promotion from The Championship last season, manager Robbie Neilson has already strengthened his Hearts squad significantly with the additions of players such as Alex Cochrane, Josh Ginnelly and Ross Stewart.
Speaking about the move earlier today, Neilson said: “He’s got really good stock. He’s been at Everton and played I think six Premiership games down there, 12 in all for a top team.
“So we know what he brings; energy, work ethic and moves the ball quickly. It’s an area we wanted to try and build on this season and hopefully he’ll do that for us.
“He trained today and has played some games down there as well. He was involved with the first team training up until they went to Florida so he’s in a good place fitness-wise.
“We’ll assess him today and tomorrow and make a decision for Saturday.
“He’ll definitely be in the squad, it’s just whether he starts or not.
"We’re still working away and have areas that we need to fill. We know that. It’s just a case of continuing to work hard to get them.
“It shows that we’ve waited to try and get a player of Beni’s calibre. We’ve managed to do it and we’ll continue to do that for other guys.”
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