Heart of Midlothian have completed the January signing of Jamie McCart.
The centre-back had agreed to a pre-contract but the club have managed to secure his services from Rotherham United six months early.
McCart has signed a deal until 2029.
Neil Critchley noted the need to add in the defensive area and that the centre-back is someone he had been aware of from his time managing in England.
The Hearts head coach told the official site: "It’s probably no secret that due to injuries sustained at the heart of our defence we were looking to strengthen in this position. We are delighted that we’ve got Jamie signed so early in the window.
"He is someone I'm aware of from his time at Rotherham and Barnsley and added to his SPFL experience we feel we are recruiting Jamie at a good stage of his career.
"Jamie already knows a lot about Hearts and has shown a real appetite to come and join us. We are confident his presence and leadership will help to improve us both in the short and long term”
McCart started his career at Celtic making one first-team appearance. He had loan spells at Alloa Athletic, St Mirren and Inverness CT. He would join the Highlanders permanently before earning a move to the Premiership 18 months into his time at ICT.
The defender played a pivotal role in St Johnstone's double cup-winning season in the 2020/21 campaign. He stayed in Perth for a third season before going down south to Rotherham United. During his time in England, he has loan spells at Leyton Orient and Barnsley.
He becomes the second January signing after Elton Kabangu's arrival on the first day of the window.
