By Robbie Herbison

It is 1985, Aberdeen is crowned champions of the Scottish Premiership for only the third time in their history. Four decades of complete and utter domination from Glasgow’s, so called, ‘big two’, was to follow.

It is now January 2026, we are still without a different winner that isn’t either Celtic or Rangers, and Hearts sit three points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over their pursuers.

Here is how they have done it and why what they have achieved so far is so impressive, in numbers. The biggest reason for Hearts’ success so far is the incredible transfer window they had over the summer of 2025.

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With Tony Bloom bringing in his analytical system that has worked well at his previous clubs - Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise - it has been an exceptional window so far. Signings such as Claudio Braga, Alexandros Kyziridis, Alexander Schwolow, and many more have hit the ground running being fantastic additions for the Gorgie side.

They spent €2,970,000 in the window, with many of their transfers costing them nothing. The amount spent pales in comparison to Celtic and Rangers’ windows, who shockingly spent €15,130,000 and €29,170,000 respectively.

Despite the huge difference in transfer budgets between the sides, the Tynecastle outfit have clearly been the one that had the best transfer window. The Jamestown Analytic system has worked wonders for them, identifying players from leagues that are often overlooked and will fit their system. They will also be able to make instant impact within the squad.

Alternatively, the Old Firm’s analytic system seems to be finding players they need to massively overpay for like Chermiti and Tounetki.

It isn’t just the summer signings that have been outstanding for Hearts so far, with Lawrence Shankland scoring 10 goals and registering one assist in his 19 appearances. So far, this makes him the league’s top goalscorer. He also boasts an EG (expected goals) of 10.55, meaning that his finishing is almost perfect, putting him in the 98th percentile of all players recorded on Footystats.org.

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Shankland isn’t the only previously signed player with extremely impressive stats. Centre back Craig Halkett has, so far, had one of the best seasons a defender has had in Scotland in a long time. Halkett has won 5.48 aerial duels per 90, has 1.85 interceptions per 90, and 9.24 clearances per 90.

Since joining on a free transfer from Livingston in summer of 2019, Halkett has had a foray of serious injuries, missing a total of 109 games. The Gorgie faithful will be praying that nothing happens to him in the coming months, as he has proven to be a strong defender, who must surely be knocking on the door of a Scotland cap.

There are many more players such as Braga, Kyziridis and Schwolow who all came in during the summer window, who are having been playing similarly in exceptional form this season.

The Jambos have a clear identity of how they want to play, and the squad is displaying that excellently this season. A club such as Hearts recording 13 wins, five draws, two losses and a goal difference of +22 by January, is unheard of in modern day Scottish football.

Their form has certainly provided some brilliant entertainment to Scottish football fans no matter what team they support. Hopefully, come the end of the season, we have a different side lifting the trophy than usual.

The Scottish Premiership has a new heartbeat