“I have heard” – Jim Duffy makes Porteous to Rangers claim

One of the questions aimed at Ross Wilson at the Rangers AGM was about his success when it came to player recruitment, specifically the signing of John Souttar when we already had a high-earning centre-half on the treatment table and unlikely to play for the club again.

The Scotland international arrived on a pre-contract agreement which softened the blow of his lack of game time, however, a more reliable option would have meant that we weren’t playing Champions League games with an 18-year old and central midfielder as a pairing.

There is though, one name that keeps popping up and, speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard, Jim Duffy has revealed that Rangers could well be looking at the other half of the Edinburgh rivalry to repeat last January’s move for Souttar:

“Not to throw cold water on Davie’s suggestion (a potential move to Celtic) because I agree with it, but I have heard that there is a little bit of a suggestion that he could be going across the road to their greatest rivals. So, I have heard that, whether there’s that much in it but that’s something that’s in the air.”

Who Duffy is talking about is Ryan Porteous. A player already considered by Vital Rangers and whilst, on paper, he fits the profile of the type of player we should be looking at, the Hibernian centre-half is so much more than a promising defender. He is a liability in more ways than one.

I could understand if we make Porteous an offer though. Filip Helander probably won’t play for the club again and is out of contract in the summer, John Souttar will never be able to be available for 50-60 games and James Sands is only on loan. Leon King should also be allowed to develop in his own time rather than being rushed through.

Would I want Porteous as a first-choice centre-half? No, but could he fill the spots that George Edmundson and Niko Katic used to fill and back up Ben Davies and Connor Goldson? Absolutely. Whether or not he has the character to be a Ranger is an entirely different story.