Striker Kabangu joins Hearts on permanent deal

Heart of Midlothian have signed striker Elton Kabangu on a permanent deal from Union Saint-Gilloise for an undisclosed fee.

The Belgian forward joined on loan in January and has now signed a three-year deal to extend his stay at Tynecastle.

The 27-year-old scored twice in his first start to help Hearts to a Scottish Cup victory over Brechin City and repeated the feat two games later in a 6-0 win at Dundee.

Kabangu scored eight goals in 18 appearances to finish the campaign as the club's second-top goalscorer, one behind Lawrence Shankland.

"I am very happy to be able to call Tynecastle my new home," he told the Hearts website.

"I have had some good moments, but I definitely want more of them. I am just getting started and there are some big things coming for Hearts.

"I am already looking forward to coming back and working with the new head coach and taking this club forward to success."

Kabangu becomes the second signing of the Derek McInnes era at Tynecastle, following the capture of Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis.

"I had a great conversation with Elton about how I see his role in the team and what I think he can achieve at Hearts," said new head coach McInnes.

"We're both excited about what the future holds and I'm really looking forward to working with him.

"I think everyone saw the impact he had when he joined the club in January. He's an absolute handful for opposing defences."

Brighton owner Tony Bloom, who is set to take up a 29% stake in Hearts after the club's majority shareholder group voted in favour of his £10m investment, also has a significant stake in Union Saint-Gilloise.

Union Saint-Gilloise ended a 90-year wait for the Belgian title when they clinched their 12th championship with a 3-1 final-round home victory against Gent on Sunday.

Check out all the transfers agreed in May in our dedicated page.