Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken hopes no news is good news amid Claudio Braga talk

Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken is hoping no news is good news on the Claudio Braga front as he would love to retain the Portuguese forward beyond the end of this transfer window.

The future of last season’s Scottish Premiership player of the year remains a source of speculation, with Ipswich, Lyon and Trabzonspor among the clubs to have been linked with a move for him this summer.

“Nothing concrete that I know of,” said Vrancken, when asked if there had been any offers for the 26-year-old. “So as long as nothing is coming to me, I think he’s staying at the moment.

“I’m happy when I don’t hear anything, so let’s hope that it stays that way until the beginning of September.”

Braga has started all five competitive games under Vrancken this term, but the recently-appointed head coach acknowledged the need for Hearts to be ready to replenish the squad accordingly if a suitable bid comes in for the forward.

“I’m keen to keep every good player with us,” he said. “As a coach, you always want to keep your best players with you. But it’s the world of football, you have to cope with that and know how the transfer window can be.

“It’s a responsibility for us as a club to be ready when something happens. And not only when players leave, but also when you see that you have a need somewhere, so you have to always be open for adaptations.

“He’s here now but I do not know. I cannot see into the future. He’s a good player and it’s a transfer window, so then you’re always a little bit nervous if he stays or not.

“The only thing we can do as a club is be ready if it happens. But of course, I hope that I will keep working with him in September also.”

Vrancken is hopeful that vice-captain Harry Milne will be fit to return for a likely Conference League play-off against Rapid Vienna next week after confirming that the left-back will miss the second leg of Thursday’s Europa League qualifier against Benfica.

“I think, for sure, after Inverness (in the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday), he would be able to play again or train again,” he said. “But with a muscle injury, it’s always dangerous to predict something so we’ll see day by day.”

In Milne’s absence, winger Calvin Miller produced a man-of-the-match display in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Dundee United. Asked if he would consider deploying the attacker there against Benfica, Vrancken said: “We’ll see. When I put Calvin there, I will say it five minutes before the game! No, no, just kidding.

“He did really good. Obviously, all of us know what his best position is but he’s really flexible and he performs well everywhere he plays, even left full-back. So we’ll see how we do it tomorrow against a good side.”