Conor Sammon is one of four players leaving Hearts

Striker Conor Sammon and defender Aaron Hughes are out of contract, while loanees Demetri Mitchell and Conor Shaughnessy will return to parent clubs Manchester United and Leeds United respectively.

The club have made no mention of Cameroonian midfielder Arnaud Djoum, who is also out of contract. He is due to meet manager Craig Levein for a final round of talks this week but is wanted in Cyprus by Apollon Limassol.

Scotland forward Steven Naismith is expected to sign a permanent contract to join Hearts from Norwich City. The vast majority of that deal has already been agreed.

Sign up to our Hearts newsletter The i newsletter cut through the noise Sign up Thanks for signing up! Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting...

Hughes, 39, is poised to retire after Northern Ireland's European Championship qualifiers next month. He made 42 appearances in maroon after arriving in January 2017. He is now due to hang up his boots after a long career at club level in England and at international level - where he is the most capped British defender of all time.

Sammon's three-year deal is finishing to bring an end to his disappointing time in Edinburgh. He arrived in 2016 from Derby County but could not establish himself in the Hearts first team. He spent most of the last three years loaned out to Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle and, this season, Motherwell.