The case of John Souttar is a curious one.
Robbie Neilson explained, via The Scotsman, as part of the build up to the Edinburgh derby that the Scotland defender was fit and available for selection, and yet, he was nowhere to be seen in the starting XI or on the bench.
“He’s left here and he’ll be back in tomorrow.
“And I expect he’ll be available for Tuesday – if he’s still here,” said the Hearts boss.
In between updates on Aaron Ramsey’s sensational move from Juventus, we also saw reports of bids being rejected by Hearts for a deal to see Souttar move to Rangers early – understandable given that they wouldn’t have much time to find a replacement and because Craig Halkett has recently picked up a long-term injury.
The biggest stumbling block appeared to be Hearts insistence on a sell-on clause as well as demanding over £350,000, surely, with a player who has already put pen to paper on a pre-contract agreement, that it should be one or the other. No wonder Rangers didn’t budge.
Leon Balogun is back and Calvin Bassey has proven to be a more than able deputy whilst covering for his more senior team-mates so the signing of Souttar would have been nice rather than essential.
The issue now is that Hearts next game is against us, Neilson has a massive decision to make as to whether or not he throws Souttar in at the deepend or, if he protects the player from what will be a highly pressurised situation.