Icelandic club IA Akranes insist Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov has not made an approach for manager Gudjon Thordarson.Thordarson is reported to have been identified by Romanov as the man to take the Tynecastle reins for next season.

Speculation earlier in the year linked Thordarson with a move to Hearts, however Akranes were surprised to see the manager again linked with the Jambos.

Toddy Gudjonsson, the IA Akranes chief executive who is also Thordarson's son, said: "Of course we heard about this in the winter.

"However we haven't heard anything about this since and there hasn't been an approach at all. This is the first I've heard of it again, this morning."

Newspaper reports have also claimed Scotland assistant boss Terry Butcher could be asked to assist Thordarson at Hearts.

But any such move seems a long way off.

Thordarson, 52, has experience of working in British football, which Romanov has previously specified as a desirable quality for the new Hearts manager.

He had spells in charge of Stoke, Barnsley and Notts County, who he left in 2006.

Thordarson had a stint in charge of the Iceland national team from 1997 to 1999.

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