As has been widely reported, Sheffield United have joined Leicester in the bid to sign Rangers defender John Souttar. The whole situation with John Souttar Rangers departure really did come rather out of nowhere. The Rangers Review first reported that he and Brazilian teammate Danilo had not joined the Spanish camp for this summer’s work. This was on transfer duty and on the basis that both would be leaving. We will have a separate entry about Danilo’s progress on that front. But the surprise here, of course, was Souttar.
John Souttar Rangers departure unexpected
He might be a slightly divisive figure at Ibrox in terms of those who rate him and those who do not. But no one would have expected John Souttar Rangers departure only six or so months after signing a new deal. Abundantly clear has to be a change in climate at Rangers. Souttar is contracted at the moment until 2027, with the option to 2028. He was to be a long term defender, or at least a squad member. But something has changed, and it can only be on the part of the manager. It appears that Derek McInnes just does not rate John Souttar and does not want him as part of his Rangers Revolution going forward.
Souttar never reached the expected Rangers level
Ibrox Noise does not agree or disagree with this. We just do not mind. As we have said before, Souttar never evolved into the Rangers level defender that we thought he would. When you step up to Rangers from Hearts, it is a different world. And he never truly embraced what that meant. He put in everything he had and showed effort and desire. But unfortunately, the ability never evolved. He never became the big alpha Rangers defender. It appears McInnes has a different direction for Rangers. John Souttar is not part of his plans going forward and has clearly been told that. He would have been very surprised by the news. It is abundantly clear that John Souttar did not see this coming. Unless something changed significantly for Souttar himself, he would have been told to leave despite the new contract.
Sudden Rangers departure as Leicester and Sheffield United make their moves
Now, as we know Russell Martin made his move many weeks ago. Souttar would have known for some considerable time that Leicester and his old boss held an interest in him. It is only more recently, however, that Derek McInnes must have informed him that he was not required under him. As such, Souttar became available and realised his Rangers time was up. Why McInnes did not rate Souttar and wants others instead would only be known to him. As we said, Souttar has not exactly evolved into a stunning Rangers level defender. But he has done okay. That said, last season definitely did not go well for him. And it may be deemed that he has passed his best already at Rangers and is surplus.
John Souttar Rangers departure now appears inevitable
Whatever the reasons for his departure, we are unlikely to know any time soon unless either man speaks out. But consequently, he will be moving on. And it appears either Sheffield United or Leicester will be his destination. We do wish him luck and we have not a bad word to say about him as a man or player. He did himself no injustice at Rangers, even if many fans do not rate him. We do agree on that front in a sense, whereby that development that we mentioned never truly happened. He will move on in due course and we will wish him the best.