Hearts have agreed a fee to sell top scorer Andrius Velicka to Viking Stavanger. The fee is understood to be in excess of £1 million but Velicka himself is not yet thought to have agreed personal terms.

The move is sure to infuriate Hearts fans who will be concerned at the lack of striking options left for assistant boss Stephen Frail and also the sale of their best players.

Velicka was ruled out of tomorrow’s clash with Motherwell due to injury, but he probably wouldn’t have played anyway as his move to Norway was finalised. Viking’s Director of Football, former Rangers forward Egil Ostenstad, moved for the Lithuanian, who has scored 14 goals this season, after watching him in last month’s CIS Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers. He was impressed by Velicka’s workrate and was able to make his move as the Norwegian transfer window does not close until April 1.

Viking recently broke their club record transfer fee to sign Czech forward Martin Pillo from Viktoria Plzen at a cost of £900,000. They will break it again to land Velicka, who is officially on loan to Hearts from FBK Kaunas.

Velicka won the Lithuanian League seven times with Kaunas, and lifted the Lithuanian Cup three times. As well as his 14 strikes so far this term, the 28-year-old was Hearts’ top goalscorer last season with 12 goals in all competitions.

The striker has hit some crucial goals for the Jambos since his arrival 18 months ago, including the double which saw Hearts knock Celtic out of the CIS Cup with a 2-0 win at Parkhead. He also bagged a brace a fortnight ago in the victory over Gretna – a side which Hearts had previously never beaten over 90 minutes.

Frail’s striking options now appear to consist of Christian Nade, Calum Elliot and Ricardas Beniusis.