Kye Rowles: What should Hearts fans expect - not Souttar replacement, strengths and aerial concern

The Australian market has been a fruitful one for Hearts over the years. From Patrick Kisnorbo to Ryan McGowan and now Cammy Devlin and Nathaniel Atkinson.

A third Aussie could join the current ranks with Kye Rowles a key transfer target for the club, as reported by the Evening News.

The Central Coast Mariners defender is well liked by Hearts and has a strong reputation in Australia. He is the only uncapped player in Graham Arnold’s squad for the upcoming World Cup play-off with United Arab Emirates.

It follows a successful season for his club as Rowles helped CCM finish in the top six, reaching the finals series where they lost to Adelaide United.

A team mate of both former Hearts midfielder Oliver Bozanic and ex-Hibs and Rangers striker Jason Cummings, Rowles featured 25 times, missing just two games, playing predominantly as a centre-back in a back four. He has been a regular for the last four seasons, since turning 20.

One of the first assumptions likely made by fans is that he’ll be a like-for-like replacement for John Souttar. That’s not necessarily the case. Firstly, Rowles is left-footed, capable of playing as a centre-back or full-back.

If anything it will be interesting to see what impact his arrival has on Stephen Kingsley, who was one of Hearts’ best players last season as a centre-back. Kingsley is such a talent that he’d be just as good at left-back or even moved forward to wing-back. A key aspect of Hearts going forward is versatility and Rowles would provide that.

Watching the 23-year-old in action, you are immediately struck by his composure on the ball and how he defends. A clip was doing the rounds on social media of him performing a roulette, made famous by Zinedine Zidane, in the middle of the park.