John Souttar reveals Rangers move from Hearts nearly happened earlier

John Souttar is officially a Rangers player as the Scotland centre-back revealed the move from Hearts nearly happened in January.

The 25-year-old signed a pre-contract agreement at the start of the year with the Ibrox club keen to make the deal happen in the winter transfer window.

Hearts, however, stood firm on their valuation of the player and he remained at Tynecastle Park for the remainder of the season.

In his first games after the pre-contract was announced, Souttar was the target of boos from Hearts fans.

“It’s been a long time since I obviously signed the pre-contract in January but it’s a brilliant day for me and my family to join Rangers,” he told RangersTV.

“It nearly happened in January. So it was obviously just dealing with that set back of it not happening and focusing on the football.

“It was difficult at the time but after it was over with, it was over with so I just gave 100% focus on the task at hand at Hearts."

Souttar has signed a deal until 2026 and was excited by what he heard from Giovanni van Bronckhorst when he met him.

John Souttar is officially a Rangers player. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

He said: “When I signed and met the manager and the staff in January, you know Rangers, I’ve been brought up in Scotland so I know the size of the club and what it means to people and stuff like that.

“So when I met the manager it was exciting. He just gave me his thoughts, obviously he was just in the door as well and he gave me his thoughts on how he wants us to play and it was exciting."