Hearts manager Robbie Neilson accepts Socceroos forward Garang Kuol is not the "finished article" but is thrilled to land the 18-year-old on loan from Newcastle United.
The Edinburgh club confirmed the temporary signing – subject to international clearance – of Kuol from the Premier League side on Thursday, reportedly beating several Championship clubs to him.
Kuol impressed with two cameos for Australia at the 2022 World Cup, where the Socceroos reached the round of 16 for the second time.
In September, the teenager agreed a pre-contract deal to join Newcastle in January from A-League club Central Coast Mariners, with the Magpies eager to loan him out for first-team experience.
The Egypt-born talent only debuted for Central Coast in December 2021 and made just 22 first-team appearances – netting seven goals – before joining Newcastle.
"It's fantastic news that Garang has committed himself to Hearts for the next six months," Neilson said.
"It's no secret that we were extremely interested in him and he came up for a look around last week. He was impressed with what he saw and what we're trying to do here, which is pleasing.
"We're getting a player who is by no means the finished article but there is a lot of talent there – you don't get called up to and play in the World Cup for nothing.
"He'll offer us new options going forward as we look to continue our good form and continue to make progress in the league and in the Scottish Cup, and we're really looking forward to working with him."
Kuol joins fellow Australians Kye Rowles, Cammy Devlin and Nathaniel Atkinson at Hearts. All four were part of the Socceroos' World Cup squad.
"The gaffer also persuaded me to come here with the plan that he put to me for my development," Kuol said.
"Overall, the club has great ambitions and goals, and that was something I wanted to be involved in. I think it was a very good decision."
Hearts are third in the Scottish Premiership with 32 points from 20 games, 26 points behind leaders Celtic.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with AC Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to AC Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A, but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
Magnificent Bumrah humbles Australia after India batting collapse
India wrestled control back from Australia to leave them 67-7 at the close of play, despite having been bowled out for just 150 earlier on a remarkable first day in Perth.
The tourists chose to bat first, having made six changes from their Test defeat to New Zealand earlier this month, but things did not go well for them as they were reduced to 32-3 and 73-6.
Virat Kohli struggled again and went for just five after being caught by Usman Khawaja. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and number three Devdutt Padikkal were both playing in Australia for the first time and were dismissed for ducks.
Rishabh Pant (37) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41) dragged India to a level of respectability before their bowlers tore through the Australian batting lineup.
Jasprit Bumrah (4-17) was India's saviour, producing a spell to leave the hosts 19-3. Nathan McSweeney (10) went on lbw after a review, Khawaja (8) was caught in the slips and Steve Smith was out on his first ball after another lbw.
Both Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh went for a combined total of 17 runs, with Marnus Labuschagne next to go for two off 52 balls. Pat Cummins was the final wicket of the day, meaning Australia finished on 67-7 with Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc at the crease.
Data debrief: Australia and India go wicket crazy
It was undoubtedly a day for the bowlers on the first day in Perth, with 17 wickets being the most to have fallen on the opening day of a Test in Australia since 1952.
While all 10 of Australia's wickets were caught, India managed four dismissals through either bowling their opponent or lbw.
Following his unplayable performance in Perth, Bumrah now has 177 Test wickets for his country and can count himself unlucky not to have had more.
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