Rangers: No late move for John Souttar as Hearts confirm January business has finished

John Souttar will remain at Tynecastle for the rest of the season despite Rangers launching a third bid for the Ibrox-bound defender on deadline day.

With little over an hour remaining of the Scottish transfer window, Hearts confirmed they had concluded their transfer business both in and out.

That means that Rangers will be made to wait for their Scottish international defender, who has signed a pre-contract deal with the current champions to move when his current terms end in May.

Talks over expediting the transfer by four months – as Rangers have done in the past with the likes of Jack Simpson, Scott Wright and most famously Glen Kamara – had taken place but failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion for both clubs, with Hearts holding out for a ‘significant offer’.

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson (left) and John Souttar (right) will continue working together for the remainder of this season. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

A third bid was reported in the afternoon of deadline day but was rejected by the Edinburgh club who will now face Rangers on Sunday after this week’s Edinburgh derby.

Robbie Neilson had stuck to his guns throughout the month and insisted he would not hesitate in playing his defender as the club chases a return to European football and eyes Scottish Cup silverware.

He did leave Souttar out of the Scottish Cup win over Auchinleck Talbot, which prompted speculation he was maintaining Souttar’s cup status incase of a future move this month – but it did not transpire and Neilson insisted Souttar’s omission was a result of an ankle injury, which also caused him to miss training on January 31 after the win against Motherwell.

Souttar remaining will also provide the further selection boost with fellow defender Craig Halkett now injured.

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