'Dream come true' - American striker Williams seals Hearts move

American forward JJ Williams says he had sleepless nights as his protracted Hearts move concluded and is now dreaming of scoring at Tynecastle.

Hearts have boosted their striker options by signing the 6ft 4in forward from Rhode Island on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

"It's a dream come true for me, honestly," William told HeartsTV.

"I was hoping this deal would have been done a long time ago but the fact that I'm here, I'm getting immersed in the culture, I'm getting to experience a lot of the history that's Hearts.

"There is no place I'd rather be. It's the only club that I'm worried about and thinking about.

"I just want to take that big step. For so many years, I've been looking to get out of the States and it's just how everything happened for me to do it now.

"So I'm beyond blessed and happy to be here."

The 28-year-old leaves the USL Championship club after netting 30 goals and providing 13 assists in 79 games for the second-tier side.

The former Atlanta player had an impressive spell at Tampa Bay Rowdies before joining Rhode Island in 2024.

"I'm actually going to go to the museum after this and go check it out," he added.

"What I do realise is that you're playing for more than just a game, what it means to people and that's what I can't wait to play for. These are the people that I can't wait to play for.

"I'm going to struggle to sleep tonight. Whenever I got in, I've been struggling to sleep because I've been thinking of scoring goals in front of the fans for the last five or six days since I knew it was going to happen.

"I'm going to take pictures of it [Tynecastle] and just dream about this tonight."