Heart of Midlothian head to Belgium to face Cercle Brugge at the end of the month and their opponents are on the cusp of losing their key player.

Star striker Kevin Denkey is nearing a big-money move to MLS. According to strong reports in the United States, FC Cincinnati are in talks with Cercle Brugge over a $15million deal (£11.7million) that will take the 23-year-old Togo international across the Atlantic.

Denkey, who has been linked with Roma and Lille in the past, has been a prolific scorer for Cercle Brugge across the last three seasons. He followed up scoring 13 goals in season 2022/23 with 28 in 39 appearances last season. He has already scored 11 this campaign, including a hat-trick, plus two assists, in the club's opening match of the league phase of the Conference League when the team smashed St Gallen 6-2.

He was, however, left out of the squad for the weekend's 5-0 loss to Anderlecht ahead of the move to America. He is set to take the designated player spot for FC Cincinnati.

Denkey was a likely absentee after being sent off during the first half of his previous appearance in the Conference League when his team drew with LASK. CercleBrugge have four points from their three fixtures in the competition but currently sit third bottom in the Belgian top flight.

He featured twice in the Europa League qualifying win over Kilmarnock across two legs, assisting former Ross County winger Kazeem Olaigbe.

Hearts travel to Belgium to face Cercle Brugge on Thursday, November 28, and are set to be backed by more than 3,000 supporters after the club received an additional allocation.