Heart of Midlothian have confirmed the signing of midfielder Malachi Boateng from Premier League side Crystal Palace.

The 22-year-old has signed a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee believed to be six figures. He becomes the club's eighth signing of the season following the arrivals of Ryan Fulton, Gerald Taylor, Daniel Oyegoke, James Penrice, Blair Spittal, Yan Dhanda and Musa Drammeh.

Boateng has spent the last two seasons on loan in Scotland. He first played under Owen Coyle at Queen's Park in the Championship before getting experience in the top flight last season at Dundee. He made nearly 80 appearances in total across the two spells.

Steven Naismith spoke of the player as a "strong, athletic, ball-winning and ball-playing midfielder".

“I’m pleased we’ve been able to get the deal done and bring Malachi in," he told the club's website.

“We’ve done the bulk of our recruitment early but we’re always assessing our differing requirements, and with a couple of players out through injury it’s pushed us to act swiftly.

“In Malachi we’ve got a strong, athletic, ball-winning and ball-playing midfielder. He’s also somebody who has good knowledge of Scottish football through his loan spells here.

“He’ll fit in well to our dressing room, I’m sure, and I’m looking forward to working with him as we focus on starting the season positively.”

Hearts are still looking to add Colombian international left-back Andres Salazar.