Hearts are seeking a quick replacement for head coach Derek McInnes who is cutting short his contract to take over at Rangers.

The Ibrox board made him their number one target after Danny Rohl was poached by Austrian club Salzburg.

McInnes signed a four-year deal at Tynecastle 12 months ago but the board do not appear to have put up much resistance to him holding talks with Rangers.

He was appointed before Brighton owner Tony Bloom sunk £10 million into the Gorgie club last August.

The Hearts board and fans will hope Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics, which powers the club’s recruitment research, can repeat McInnes’s winning formula, though its recommendations have had mixed results.

The club will want a manager in quickly to prepare the squad for next month’s European Champions League second-round qualifier against either Sturm Graz or Fenerbahce.

McInnes, who came within minutes of landing Hearts’ first title since 1960, will move to Ibrox on a three-year deal.

He will be reunited with ex-Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland at Ibrox after the striker arrived in Glasgow on a free transfer this month.

McInnes, 54, finally joins the blue half of Glasgow nine years after Rangers first attempted to lure him back to the club during his days at the helm of Aberdeen.

It is understood Rangers drew up a four-man shortlist, including former boss Steven Gerrard, but McInnes was the only candidate formally spoken to by chairman Andrew Cavenagh and chief executive Jim Gillespie.

Rohl, 37, joined Rangers only last October and succeeded in lifting the team from a lowly sixth place in the Scottish Premiership into title contenders until a poor run of results in the final weeks of the season.

He is said to have been on the Salzburg shortlist for some time. He began his coaching career under RB Leipzig.

In 2023 he took over at Sheffield Wednesday, but left amid the turmoil under its former owner Dejphon Chansiri.