BBC pundit: Rangers should sign John Souttar amid Connor Goldson contract situation
Rangers must be in the hunt to sign Hearts and Scotland centre-back John Souttar, according to BBC Sportscene pundit Marvin Bartley.
Souttar, 25, has been in great form for Hearts this season and was on the scoresheet for Scotland on Monday night in their World Cup qualifying win over Denmark at Hampden.
In October, the Scottish Mail on Sunday reported that Rangers have a “long-standing interest” in Souttar, whose contract at Tynecastle expires at the end of the season and could be on the move for a nominal fee in January.
Livingston’s assistant manager Bartley feels that Rangers, as well as Old Firm rivals Celtic, should be hot on the heels of Souttar amid his impressive displays at centre-back for club and country.
“His positioning was fantastic and that’s what he does seem like – a magnet – because he’s in the right position at the right time,” said Bartley, as quoted by Football Scotland.
“Celtic and Rangers have to be looking at him. We’ve got the [Connor] Goldson situation at Rangers with his contract. You’ve got [Cameron] Carter-Vickers on loan at Celtic so he’s going to go back at the end of the season.
“I think John Souttar goes into either of those defences and makes them better and again at 25 years of age he is only going to get better.
“We talked earlier about Liam Cooper at 30 being in his prime as a centre half because you get the experience and you’re positioning is even better. John Souttar’s five years younger than him.
“There will be teams down in England also looking but I think when Celtic and Rangers come calling it’s very difficult for a Scottish player to say ‘No, I’m going down to England.'”
No-brainer
Rangers’ defence is going to need a makeover either in January or next summer.
As it stands, Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun will both be out of contract once the season is over and both of them might leave Ibrox for good.
Nikola Katic, Filip Helander and Jack Simpson could be left as the next manager’s centre-back options and let’s face it, that’s simply not good enough.
Souttar is someone who’s approaching his prime, is experienced in Scottish football and is making a name for himself with the Scottish national team – singing him makes perfect sense.
With the Gers needing the balance the books in terms of their financial situation, signing Souttar on a free transfer next summer makes perfect sense and we expect the club to at least try to sign him.
Not many 25-years-old have played as many times in the Scottish Premiership as Souttar has and with Hearts in good form this term, it shows that he’s not fazed by playing for a high-flying club.
We’d more than happily see the back of Goldson if it meant Souttar came in.
In other Rangers news, a journalist shares what Gerrard was told about Rangers’ finances before he left – and it could affect Gio van Bronckhorst too.