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Sabri Guendouz impressed Hearts supporters during Tuesday’s pre-season outing at Arbroath, but manager Wouter Vrancken is already pushing for more from the Frenchman.
The summer signing from Belgian side Beerschot cost the club £850,000 and was recruited with the help of the Jamestown Analytics system.
Guendouz operated as a number 10 at Gayfield, drifting across the pitch with composure and regularly attempting to unlock the Arbroath defence with clever footwork.
Vrancken, however, is making clear that individual flair must translate into measurable output before the competitive action begins.
The Hearts boss said: “Sabri’s a good football player. His touches are good. For his own development it’s also good to play in this league because there’s a lot of physical contacts for him.”
Vrancken added that the 26-year-old must sharpen his movement without the ball to increase his goal and assist tallies this season.
“But to have more stats, he can have more runs off the ball instead of on the ball. Then you come in positions that you can score or give assists,” the manager said.
Guendouz registered three goals and seven assists for Beerschot last season, giving Hearts reason to believe the underlying quality is already there to build on.
Vrancken also praised the player’s fitness levels after he completed 90 minutes without any visible drop in intensity or work rate against Arbroath.
“So from his nature, he has volume. This is a good thing. So he can stay on the same level all 90 minutes,” Vrancken said.
With Hearts preparing for a Champions League qualifier against Sturm Graz, Friday’s home match against Rayo Vallecano represents the final pre-season test before competitive action.
The Spanish side are Europa Conference League runners-up, making the Tynecastle fixture the most demanding preparation exercise Vrancken has had at his disposal.
Landry Kabore gave Hearts the lead against Arbroath with a clinical angled header from Calvin Miller’s corner kick at Gayfield.
Alexandros Kyziridis then doubled the advantage midway through the second half, slotting home after a neat pass from Sabah Kerjota.
Arbroath pulled one back through Andy Winter following an error from Yan Dhanda, though Hearts ultimately managed the match without significant difficulty.
Claudio Braga and Stuart Findlay came off the bench for the final 30 minutes, while Tomas Magnusson was among those given the night off entirely.
Vrancken confirmed those rested players are expected to start against Rayo Vallecano and play the full 90 minutes on Friday evening.
“Those who weren’t at Arbroath trained very hard in the morning. So I don’t see the purpose of putting them there for 10 minutes or so,” he said.
The manager described squad management heading into Graz as “still a little bit of a puzzle,” with the aim of having every player as fresh as possible for the qualifier.
Whether Guendouz starts in Austria remains uncertain, but Vrancken’s message to him is clear: statistics, goals, and assists are what ultimately matter.
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