Round-up: Star York City man finalising move to SPL giants, released Rotherham United striker lined up by old boss
TALISMANIC York City defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott is finalising a move to Scottish Premier League outfit Hearts.
The EFL newcomers rebuffed initial six-figure offers from the Jambos, with the Minstermen reluctant to sell their star turn.
But persistence has now paid off the Tynecastle outfit, who performed outstandingly well to just miss out on lifting the SPL title last season.
A higher six-figure deal has been agreed for the 24-year-old, the stand-out centre-half in the National League in 2025-26.
It is said to be worth over £1m, including add-ons.
Hearts have been busy in the transfer market already in the close-season, bringing in Falkirk winger Calvin Miller for a six-figure fee, alongside Lincoln City centre-back MJ Kamson-Kamara and St Johnstone wide man Josh McPake.
Fagan-Walcott, a former England youth international, began his career at Tottenham Hotspur and has had loan spells north of the border at Dundee and Dunfermline Athletic.
He moved to York on loan from Cardiff City in 2024 before signing a permanent deal in January 2025.
The Londoner made 36 appearances in Minstermen’s title-winning campaign and his efforts secured a nomination for the Enterprise National League Young Player of the Season award.
The Minstermen's previous record sale was set in 1999 when Sheffield Wednesday paid £950,000 for Richard Cresswell.
Recently-released Rotherham United striker Jordan Hugill is poised to head back to his Teesside roots and join National League outfit Hartlepool United.
The move will see him reunited with Pools chief Lee Clark, who he worked with for a period last season in the final few months of his time at the AESSEAL New York Stadium.
Middlesbrough-born Hugill's deal expired with Rotherham at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
Beaten Championship play-off finalists Boro have confirmed their opening pre-season friendly with Kim Hellberg's side to host Spanish outfit Espanyol at the Riverside Stadium on August 3.
It will take place a week before the club's opening competitive match of the 26-27 season in the opening round of the Carabao Cup.
Espanyol's line-up is set to include a former Boro striker Kike, 36, who joined the La Liga outfit last summer and scored 10 goals last term.