The Red and Whites claim to be closing in on the final component of their squad ahead of the new A-League campaign, with a centre-forward due to sign within a week

Melbourne Heart chief executive Scott Munn says the club expect to sign an international striker within the next seven days.

Heart were forced to reassess their recruitment needs when midfielder Orlando Engelaar suffered a fractured leg in his first pre-season appearance, ruling the Dutch veteran out of action until 2014 at the earliest.

They moved to bring in defender Patrick Kisnorbo on a one-year deal this week, allowing the versatile Patrick Gerhardt to fill in for Engelaar as a holding player.

And now attention has turned to finalising the forward line for the 2013-14 A-League campaign.

Australian centre-forward Brent McGrath has been on trial with the club in recent weeks, but the one-cap Socceroo now appears unlikely to take the remaining place in Heart's squad, with Munn forecasting the recruitment of a fifth and final overseas player.

"We're working really hard in that space," he told SEN.

"I think we're going to have some really great news next week around a striker, a foreign player to come into the team.

"What happened to Orlando caused us to rethink and took priority but we're now back on track, I think we'll make that final signing in the next seven days. We're full steam ahead and really looking forward to Round 1.

When pressed on the quality of the potential attacking signing, Munn said: "Very exciting ... very. Well known, depending on where you're from in the world.

"He's playing this weekend, representing his country and [will] hopefully put in a few goals."