English Championship sides will battle Rangers to sign John Souttar from Hearts with Celtic appearing to have no interest in pursuing the Scotland International, who is available on a pre-contract. According to The Sheffield Star, the EFL sides are keen on bringing the player to the Championship. Despite suffering some awful injuries in his career, Souttar looks set to leave Tynecastle.
The 25-year-old has impressed for Hearts this campaign, earning a Scotland recall and even netting in the win over Denmark. However, this has resulted in suitors being made aware to his contract situation. Celtic were linked with Souttar initially but it seemed contingent upon whether a permanent move was made for Carter-Vickers. Now, with talks opened with Spurs for the defender, Celtic appear to have decided against entering the running for Souttar. The report states that Souttar’s preference is a move to England.
The defender is a target for promotion-chasing trio Stoke City, Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers. Souttar, who joined the Tynecastle club from Dundee United in 2016, would link up with his brother Harry – who plays in the heart of Stoke’s defence. Blackburn Rovers are said to be willing to offer him high wages to entice him to reject their rivals in favour of joining their promotion charge.
Souttar will need to pick carefully as his awful history with serious injuries has partially stunted his development. His next move could potentially help propel him onto greater heights as he is an excellent defender. Having suffered three separate Achilles injuries, Souttar showed enormous mental strength to recover but this could potentially be a red flag to a number of clubs – especially as one Achilles injury can lead to some players retiring. With Christopher Jullien having missed a year of action, the last thing the manager would want is a player that has a history of serious, lengthy injuries.
