Striker Williams 'dreams of scoring in front of Hearts fans'

American forward JJ Williams says he has had sleepless nights as his Hearts protracted Hearts move concluded and is now dreaming of scoring at Tynecastle. Wouter Vrancken's club have boosted their striker options by signing the towering forward from Rhode Island on a two-year deal. "It's a dream come true for me, honestly," William said. "I was hoping that 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, as far as I'm concerned, 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 joins for an undisclosed fee and 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." Hearts describe 6ft 4in Williams, who will be ineligible to play in Wednesday's Conference League play-off second leg against Rapid Vienna, as a "towering" striker who is "powerful and hard working". The Tynecastle club add: "JJ combines physical presence with technical ability, posing a threat inside the opposition's box, while also being adept at bringing his team-mates into play deep inside the final third."