It’s pretty clear that Rangers want to sign John Souttar from Hearts, when and for how much appear to be the most pertinent questions.
According to The Sunday Mail though, the player himself would want to move to Ibrox now if he signs a pre-contract agreement, a pretty decent indicator that he may already be leaning towards staying in Scotland rather than taking up one of the options he has in the Championship down south.
“The Ibrox club are keen to tie up the Scotland centre-back on a pre-contract agreement.
“But MailSport understands that if Souttar decides to snub offers from a host of English clubs in favour of going to Ibrox, he wants it done in the January transfer window.
“That would mean Rangers stumping up a suitable fee to prise him away from Tynecastle, where he still has six months remaining on his contract.”
Hearts are already looking at replacements which could make negotiations that little bit easier, how much they would want for a player coming to the end of his contract and with his injury history is unknown, yes, he is a Scotland international but, until this season, he had missed more games than he had played since his early 20s.
Like Filip Helander, Souttar wouldn’t be expected to play every week for Rangers which could help to protect the 25-year old and prolong his career, he might well be used as a back-up but when your team plays close to 60 games a season he would still see more than enough game time.
That his mum is a season ticket holder at Rangers stands us in good stead of getting a deal completed too, the apple never falls too far from the tree after all.