Eduardo Ageu Almeida Santos, commonly known as Ageu, was confirmed as a Hearts player on August 29, 2025, but his career with the Edinburgh club has been plagued by injury.
The Brazilian, who arrived in a club record transfer deal, could, however, be nearing the end of his problems.
The 24-year-old is back in training and new head coach, Wouter Vracken, likes what he has seen of the midfielder who moved to Scotland from Portuguese top flight cub Santa Clara on a four-year deal. The sum was undisclosed but media reports indicate it was around £1.75m.
Ageu made his debut at the end of August 2025, at Livingston, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 2-1 road win, and Hearts say he is an exciting, creative midfielder with a knack of unpicking defences with key passes.
The fans can’t wait to see him in full action, a feeling echoed by Vrancken who warned that the player was “not a Messiah”.
The coach (pictured at The Oriam by Nigel Duncan) updated the media at a press conference, and confirmed that the Brazilian has been training for over a week, but Hearts are being careful with the player and protecting him a little bit from himself. He said: “When you are out that long you are eager to show yourself.
“He is a smart guy, really smart guy in person and he knows how it works and he can give it a place in his head. We saw him working really hard to come back and he is really keen to play again and to show himself.
“We want to see him as soon as possible but, at the same time, we have to protect him a little bit, don’t push him too much so the risk is limited.”
Vrancken said you see the potential in the player and added: “He is calm on the ball, his decision making is good, but, again you cannot overload him with all the pressure. To push him would not be honest towards him and he has to adapt and to find his level again.”
