Hearts new boy Djoum set to face pal Boyata

Arnaud Djoum admits he is relishing the prospect of making his debut for Hearts at Celtic Park today — and having a ‘dream start’ against old pal dedryck Boyata.

The 26 -year- old Belgian midfielder has joined robbie neilson’s side on a deal until January after leaving Polish champions Lech Poznan during the summer.

an unused sub in this week’s dramatic 3-2 League Cup victory over Kilmarnock, he i s now hoping for a gl a morous introduction to Scottish football at Parkhead this afternoon.

It could also mean an unexpected reunion wi t h compatriot and Hoops defender Boyata after the pair began their careers at the now defunct FC Brussels.

‘I know dedryck well because we played in the same youth team,’ said djoum. ‘He is one year younger than me but I’ve met him a lot of times and he’s a good guy. I know his father well, too.

‘I didn’t speak to him about Hearts, so the first time I see him will be on Saturday. I don’t even know if he knows that I signed here but I’m excited to see him.

‘I played against him once when I was in Holland with roda JC and he was on loan at Twente, although I don’t remember the score.’

djoum (below) is keen to play his part in today’s match after watching Hearts avoid a fourth defeat in a row by scoring two late goals to beat Killie at rugby Park on Wednesday.

‘I have heard a lot of things about Celtic Par k. It’ s a big stadium with a lot of supporters and it could be a dream start for me,’ he said. ‘I look forward to bei ng t here and being part of the brilliant atmosphere.’

djoum, who has also turned out for anderlecht and akhisar Belediyespor in Turkey, was a te a m- ma t e of ex-dundee united left back Barry douglas in Poland and admits sounding him out about Scottish football.

‘Barry told me a lot of good things about Hearts and said Scottish football was a good place to play. I thought it would be a good step for my career. There were offers from romania and Cyprus, but I wanted to go to a good football country like Scotland.’

Meanwhile, boss neilson hopes the offer of helping Jerome Thomas become a coach will persuade the former Crystal Palace forward to sign on as a player at Tynecastle next week.

The 32-year- old Englishman, who also played with Charlton and West Brom, has been training with the Gorgie outfit following his release from Selhurst Park in May.

and whilst neilson admits there is no chance Hearts could table the kind of lucrative terms Thomas received in the English top flight, he hopes the winger will be attracted by the offer of progressing his coaching career in the capital.

‘We’re in the process of trying to put something to him because you can see in training he’s a top player,’ said neilson. ‘He’s been picking up big money in England for 15 years, so money is not the thing for him.

‘He would be a great addition to not only the squad but the coaching department as well because of the experience he brings. He’s getting to an age where he wants to start focusing on his future development and that’s something we can look at.

‘It won’t be anything financial because we’re not in a position to give him real money that he would be interested in. We can offer him things off the park. It’s not a player-coach role as such, it would be as a player but with a view to moving into a coaching area.

‘If he does decide to come here, it would be to pl a y, but we’d then try to help him on that side of it.’