Hearts travel to Ibrox on Saturday for a Scottish Premiership clash with Rangers when all eyes could be on John Souttar after Craig Levein’s claims.
If Hearts manager Craig Levein is to be believed, Jambos centre-half John Souttar is the best defender in Scottish football right now.
The Edinburgh giants have been solid at the back all season, with the experienced Christophe Berra forming a fine partnership with the 21-year-old former Dundee United stopper. And Levein has made it clear just how highly he rates Souttar ahead of Saturday’s league clash with Rangers.
“If there is a better centre-back in the league right now, I would be surprised. John is at the top of his game,” the former Scotland boss told the Daily Record.
Rangers should keep a close eye on Souttar, then, when Hearts travel to Ibrox for the 3:00pm kick-off.
The centre of defence arguably remains the Gers’ Achilles heel and a problem that director of football Mark Allen must put his energies into sorting out this summer.
It would be a surprise if Bruno Alves stayed beyond this season, while fellow Portuguese import Fabio Cardoso has struggled to adapt and has not started a league game since Graeme Murty’s appointment in October.
Russell Martin, meanwhile, is only on loan from Norwich City and has not exactly set the world alight so far.
So there is certainly room in Rangers’ squad for another centre-back and, if Murty’s side are serious about closing the gap to Celtic, the first priority must be to improve a defence that is far too prone to off-days.
Keeping a close eye on the so-called best in the league would not be a bad place to start.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
