Hearts make right-back Borchgrevink first summer signing

Norwegian right-back Christian Borchgrevink will join Heart of Midlothian from Valerenga once the summer transfer window opens in June and he makes a "very sad" goodbye to the club he has been with since the age of nine.

The Edinburgh club have agreed an undisclosed fee for the 25-year-old, who has signed a three-year contract.

Borchgrevink, capped at under-21 level, has been a regular at the Oslo side since 2020, playing 33 times last season, 24 of them starts, as he captained them to promotion back to the Eliteserien as second-tier champions last year.

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley told his club website: "He has all the attributes I associate with being a Hearts player; he's strong, athletic, talented and a leader on the pitch.

"He's got a good pedigree, having played at a high level in Norway, and, while he will bring his qualities to the team, we feel that we can provide an environment where he can get even better.

"Christian will, I'm sure, continue to give his all for Valerenga, where he is very highly regarded and, come the summer, I'm looking forward to welcoming him to Hearts."

Critchley had been alternating between Adam Forrester and Gerald Taylor at right-back this season until the latter suffered a knee injury on duty with Costa Rica last month.

Borchgrevink, who has missed Valerenga's opening three fixtures of the new season through injury, explained to his present club's website that he wanted to "challenge myself" in a new environment.

"We were promoted last year and I feel that I am leaving at a time when the club is really in a good place," he said of the club he has supported all his life. "And it is an exciting opportunity for me.

"Right now, I am happy, but I know that I will be very sad. I'm glad the transfer is happening this way, because then I feel like I can really say goodbye."

Valerenga sports director Joacim Jonsson pointed out that the club was in Borchgrevink's "blood".

"He stood there with his back straight when we were relegated," he added. "He was a great leader for the players during a tough winter after the relegation and not least a right-hand man for the coaching staff.

"It was also written in the stars that he would score the decisive goal when the promotion was confirmed."