Josh Ginnelly: Swansea City sign forward after Heart of Midlothian exit
- Published
Josh Ginnelly scored 10 goals between January and the end of last season
Swansea City have signed Heart of Midlothian forward Josh Ginnelly on a three-year deal.
Ginnelly, 26, was a free agent having turned down a new contract with Scottish Premiership Hearts.
He is believed to have attracted interest from a handful of Championship clubs and had also been linked with a move to Europe.
Ginnelly is Swansea's first signing since the appointment of Michael Duff as head coach.
Capable of playing as a winger or up front, Ginnelly scored 13 goals in 41 Hearts appearances last season.
He scored 22 goals in all for the Edinburgh club, having played 89 times since joining from Preston North End, initially on loan in September 2020 and then on a permanent basis.
Nuneaton-born Ginnelly was at Aston Villa as a youngster before beginning his senior career with Shrewsbury Town.
After moving to Burnley in 2015, he had loan spells at Altrincham, Walsall, Lincoln City and Tranmere Rovers before joining the Saddlers on a permanent basis in 2018.
He joined Preston in 2019 and had a stint on loan at Bristol Rovers before moving to Hearts, where he formed an impressive partnership with Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland last season.
Hearts conceded defeat in their bid to keep Ginnelly this week, saying he would leave despite the club making the "best possible offers to retain his services".
Ginnelly wrote on social media that leaving Hearts was "one of the toughest decisions I've had to make" because the club had helped him through "one of the toughest times of my career" as a result of injury problems.
Ginnelly has scored 38 goals in 213 career appearances.