Heart of Midlothian’s busy deadline run looks set to continue with the expected arrival of Learnt Kabashi, a highly rated 18-year-old midfielder who can also operate in wide areas. It is not the sort of move that grabs attention because of raw size or reputation, but it does fit a club trying to strengthen smartly while still keeping an eye on the long term.
Kabashi is expected to travel to Edinburgh this week to complete the move from Grasshoppers, with Hearts pushing to add another option around the first team this season. That detail matters. This is not just about signing a prospect for the future; it is about bringing in a player the club believes can be around the senior group now, in a season that already includes European football after qualification for the league phase of the Conference League.
The profile is an interesting one. Kabashi is described as a highly rated attacking midfielder, but his ability to play in wide roles gives Hearts more than one way to use him. In a squad-building sense, that flexibility can be valuable, especially late in a window when clubs often look for players who can cover multiple jobs rather than one fixed position.
A teenager with early senior experience
The numbers do not suggest a finished product, but they do point to a player who has already been exposed to senior football. Kabashi has first-team appearances for Grasshoppers, has represented Switzerland at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 level, and is under contract until 2028. He scored his only goal for Grasshoppers at the end of the 2024/25 season, when he was 17.
That background fits the type of signing Hearts appear to be targeting. Jamestown Analytics identified Kabashi for his potential, and that alone says something about the way the club is approaching recruitment: the focus is not only on what a player has already done, but on what he might become if he lands in the right environment.
There is also a wider squad context to this move. Before the deadline at 5pm on Thursday, Hearts will continue to look to move players on as well as bring players in. That kind of balancing act is common late in a window, but it becomes more important when a club is managing domestic expectations alongside a European schedule.
The deadline clock gives the story its urgency, but the football case gives it more substance. Hearts are not just filling space. They are trying to add a player with youth international experience, senior minutes and positional flexibility, which is a fairly neat combination for a club looking to build depth without losing direction.
If the move is completed in the next 24 to 48 hours, Kabashi will arrive as one of the more intriguing young additions to the Hearts squad. He may not be the headline name of the window, but he does look like the sort of player who can become more important than the first reaction suggests.
