Hearts have appointed Wouter Vrancken – Belgian football’s manager of the year – as their new head coach a week after Derek McInnes left for Rangers.

The 47-year-old former Genk and Sint-Truiden boss has signed a two-year contract at Tynecastle.

Vrancken left hometown club Sint-Truiden this summer after leading them to third place in the Belgian Pro League – their highest finish in 60 years – in his first full season in post.

He takes charge of a Hearts side who missed on their first top-flight league title since 1960 after a final-day defeat by champions Celtic.

Having managed four Belgian teams, Vrancken now helms a first club outside his homeland and was “courted by many European sides” before opting for Hearts, the Scottish Premiership club say.

Former midfielder Vrancken began his playing career with Sint-Truiden before going on to Gent, Genk and Mechelen. He would later manage all of those clubs.

Having started his coaching career in Belgium’s lower leagues, his return to the top flight was as assistant at another of his former sides, Kortrijk.

He took over as boss of Mechelen in 2018 and led them to promotion and the Belgian Cup in the same season before three top-eight finishes in the top flight.

With Genk, he missed out on the title in a three-way final-day climax with Royal Antwerp and Union St-Gilloise in 2022.

Genk would win the title in 2025, but by then Vrancken had moved to Gent, who finished sixth.

Joining Sint-Truiden last April, he steered them clear of relegation trouble before turning them into title contenders last season as the club secured Europa League football for the first time.

Belgian football consultant and podcaster Scott Coyne believes it is “a bit of a coup” for Hearts to have secured Vrancken.

“He could have gone to France or Germany and I think he’s picked Hearts because of the Champions League football, because of Edinburgh,” he said.

“I think there’s something about Hearts’ success last season – he sees a template over the next two, three, four years potentially to go and do something really interesting.

“He likes really direct and fluid football. So think quick transitions, lots of player rotations, an aggressive press, lots of overloads, fluidity in the wing play as well, so his wing-backs and his wingers are going to be out wide a lot.

“He might give you defensive headaches sometimes because he’s one of those coaches who does like to go pretty gung-ho. So you will concede some goals playing in a Wouter Vrancken side, but you’ll also score a lot as well.

“He’s excellent with sides on limited resources, getting them to really punch above their weight, because he creates this environment inside squads that is really tight knit. And he’s just really good at identifying bad apples.

“He fits the way Hearts want to play football and the way they’re looking to recruit players.

“He understands the Jamestown model as well because obviously he’s coached against Union Saint-Gilloise with a number of clubs in Belgium over the past few years.”

Hearts face a rebuilding job this summer – and not just because they have changed head coach and lost the man who led them close to their first title in 66 years in his only season in charge.

Scotland striker and Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland had already left for Rangers before McInnes joined last season’s top scorer at Ibrox.

Beni Beningime has left under freedom of contract, fellow key midfielder Cammy Devlin has yet to decide whether to accept a new deal and there are doubts about the future of 43-year-old Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Michael Steinwender and Frankie Kent are also among the departures and fellow defender Craig Halkett will miss the start of the season through injury, while reports suggest Claudio Braga – Scottish football’s player of the year last season – and winger Alexandros Kyziridis could be next to be sold.

However, that is seen as a normal part of the buy-low, sell-for-profit strategy adopted by recruitment partner Jamestown Analytics at Brighton and Union St-Gilloise.

Hearts have already brought in seven players, only two of them with any Scottish pedigree – wingers Calvin Miller and Josh McPake from Falkirk and St Johnstone respectively.

It will be Vrancken’s job to fashion them into a winning team while satisfying expectations of success fuelled by coming so close to glory last season.

He does not have long to do so either, with Champions League qualifiers added to the fixture schedule this season.