Northern Ireland winger hailed as ‘real leader’ after agreeing switch to Scottish club

The 30-year-old has signed a contract with the Edinburgh club until the summer of 2026 following the Royals’ demotion from the Championship to the fifth tier of English women’s football due to financial difficulties.

No stranger to Scotland, this will be Wade’s second spell in the country having previously played for Glasgow City, whom she scored for in their 2020/21 Champions League campaign.

And the 63-times capped Northern Ireland international, who has netted 12 times in a green shirt, has been lauded by new boss Eva Olid, who raved about the quality of player she is bringing to the Scottish Premiership.

“Lauren is a player with great experience in women’s football and that is crucial for we want to achieve this season. Firstly, she’s a player who will add so much quality to our forward line, but also, she is a real leader both on and off the pitch,” hailed the Spaniard.

“I’ve spoken about balance before and Lauren is another play who will help us with that. When we explained the vision that we have here at Hearts, we instantly connected, and I love that.”

Wade started her career with her hometown Coleraine before moving on to Glentoran aged just 20, the club she would return to in 2021 following stints with Carson-Newman University in the United States and Swedish outfit Umeå IK.

Another impressive season with the Glens earned her that move to Reading in 2022 and, although she would help them avoid back-to-back relegations last season, she is on the move again after the English club’s off-field problems.

“Lauren is a player who we’ve had on our radar for a number of transfer windows now and when the opportunity presented itself for us to be able to sign a player with such quality and experience, we wanted to move quickly,” added Hearts’ head of recruitment Sean Burt.

“As is always the case when a quality player becomes available, there are numerous suitors and in Lauren’s case, this was no different. I’m delighted that she’s chosen Hearts as her next club and I see this as further proof that we’re building something special when you see the experienced players putting pen to paper, it shows real belief in what we’re trying to achieve.

“Experience is key in any team; she’s been there and done it on the biggest stages for both club and country. As a club, we want to start competing in these big occasions and the addition of Lauren can only help us on that front.”

It is believed that several other Northern Ireland players could end up in Scotland before the end of the season, with goalkeeper Jackie Burns also looking for a new club after she too departed Reading.