The Hearts board have revealed they are locked in talks with manager Paulo Sergio as the club hosts its annual AGM.

Sergio has returned to his native Portugal after his contract expired following a season in which he presided over the club’s third Scottish Cup victory in 14 years.

In the wake of Hearts’ Hampden triumph the boss said he was unhappy at his future being up in the air and emphasised that he was like to stay for another term in the capital.

In a question and answer session with the official Hearts website, director Fedotovas said the board is very clear on the team they would like to see on the pitch at Tynecastle next season.

He said: “We want to maintain the strongest squad possible and we have started discussions with Paulo Sergio regarding next season.

“We intend to keep a strong squad and will remain focused on achieving as successful a domestic season as possible with a mix of experienced players and some of the best young players in the country.

“We certainly believe that Hearts will be a fresh and exciting team next year and we are already preparing for the new season.”

The board member told supporters that Hearts will have no more than 45 players across its first team pool and under-20s squad after the summer and emphasised that developing youngsters like Jason Holt, Scott Robinson and Denis Prychynenko remains a priority.

Fedotovas said that the large number of players being released from Scottish clubs will lead to wages being pushed down. He said the club is now playing “by the level of the competition”.

In a pop at the governing bodies, Fedotovas added: “In order to manage our finances we need to plan for players that we can sustain and who can give you the result you want in the league and cups.

“At the moment there is little hope that reserved seats of the Old Firm can become available. Existing structure of the league and antidemocratic governance of the league are the reasons for that.”

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