Hearts in Spain: Jorge Grant reveals the role Robbie Neilson wants him to play after journey from League One to Europe

He strolls in from training and perches himself on a stool little more than 12 hours since touching down at Malaga Airport. The last ten days have been frenetic, temperatures outside are soaring towards 30°C, but Grant isn’t in any kind of sweat.

In a matter of days, he has gone from League One to the brink of European competition after Hearts agreed to pay former club Peterborough United a six-figure transfer fee. He knows the opportunity of a lifetime has fallen into his lap.

“It's been on the cards for ages and ages now,” said the Englishman. “About a month ago, my agent spoke to me when I was at Peterborough. They put me on the transfer list so we kind of knew that this summer, we'd attract some interest with it being publicised. So it was quite early on. Knowing a club wants you is a nice feeling.

“I came up [to Edinburgh] last week. It's a massive club so straight away it drew my interest. I could have stayed at many League One teams and done the same thing I've done all my career. That's why I’ve taken this opportunity.

“It's worked out well for me. It's a massive draw, getting the chance to play in Europe and the top league in Scotland. There are massive, massive games that I've not been involved in in my career so far. I'm excited for it.

“I came up last Monday and met the manager, met Joe [Savage, sporting director], went round the stadium, the training ground and saw the city. From that moment on, I knew that I'd be signing. I'm just glad it's all done.”

A £750,000 release fee in his Peterborough contract made things slightly awkward after their relegation from the Championship. They accepted Hearts’ much lower offer in order to let the player move on.

“It was tough last season because, towards the back end, I