Levein holds talks with with Swedish left-back
Hearts held talks with Swedish left-back Gabriel Somi in Edinburgh at the weekend and hope to tempt him to Tynecastle in January.
The Ostersunds FK defender is out of contract at the end of the month and is available as a free agent. He is 26 and can play leftback or left wing-back, an area Hearts manager Craig Levein is desperate to strengthen.
Somi visited Tynecastle and Riccarton over the weekend to discuss a potential move to Scotland for the second half of the season. He will not make a quick decision as he has options in other countries to consider.
Ostersunds have offered Somi a new contract and are eager to keep him. They can guarantee European football come February after their historic progress to the Europa League knockout phase, where they were yesterday paired with Arsenal.
Somi was born in the Swedish city of Orebro but qualifies to play international football for Syria through parentage. He was in the Syrian national squad as recently as October this year but has yet to win his first cap. He has played all of his club football in Sweden to date, representing Orebro Syrianska and Syrianska FC before joining Ostersunds in 2016.
Hearts have problems at left-back and Levein is eager to recruit during January to bring more balance to his team. Ashley Smith-brown, the onloan Manchester City fullback, has been constantly injured since arriving in Edinburgh during the summer. Versatile Polish player Rafal Grzelak has struggled to find his best form in maroon, resulting in right-back Michael Smith frequently playing out of position on the left this season.