Hearts need a leader on the field and Casbo Laszlo is taking his time in naming the man in charge over the white line.

Hearts have not announced who will be wearing the captain's armband for the new season. They lost two captains last season when Christophe Berra and then Robbie Neilson bore that armband with pride before leaving for pastures English. Manager Csaba Laszlo says he is in no hurry to name a new captain before the start of the season. The squad are heading over to Germany for some pre-season preparations and the Hungarian will mull over the candidates while across the North Sea. Hearts will be based in Lower Saxony from next Monday for six days where they will face Goslar SC 08, St Pauli, Slask Wroclaw and Alemannia Aachen in pre-season friendlies. Laszlo said: "There will be somebody new who wears the armband next season, that is certain. I have a couple of candidates in mind but there is no hurry to name a captain just now. We have games coming up in Germany and it is important to look at the attitude and mentality of the players during those matches. After that at some point a decision can be made. The role of the captain is an important one at any football club and I will think carefully before making any decision."

While the captaincy can wait, time is running out to get players signed for upcoming campaign. Former Inverness Caledonian Thistle midfielder Ian Black has already agreed a three-year deal and Laszlo is hopeful of seeing more new faces arrive over the coming weeks. He said: "We are working hard together to identify and try to bring in new players. Ideally we will have key positions filled for the matches in Germany. Ian Black has signed and Jose Goncalves is coming back from his loan. Maybe we can have more."

One of those new faces could Ilco Naumoski who claims Hearts have made a bid to sign him for next season. The Macedonia international striker will be remembered in Scotland for scoring the goal which gave his country a 1-0 win over Scotland in their World Cup qualifying opener. He is now a free agent after a spell with Austrian club SV Mattersburg and could be set for a move to Britain, with interest from both sides of the border. Naumoski said: "I will decide in the next days where I will go. There are good opportunities in Scotland and England. I believe Hearts are one of the three that have brought an offer to the table but I don't want to go into detail at this stage. I know Csaba Laszlo was the manager of the year in Scotland last season and my advisor speaks very highly about him."

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