Rangers appear to be closing in on the signing of Hearts star John Souttar, with the defender preferring a move to Ibrox over heading to England.
The Scottish Sun reported on Wednesday that Souttar was edging towards joining Rangers.
Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers were interested in pre-contract deals, but Souttar was allegedly preferring Rangers.
The Glasgow Times add that Rangers have now won the race to sign Souttar, fending off English interest.
They suggest that a pre-contract deal could be secured within days. Rangers may then be able to push for a cash deal this month.
Add in that the Daily Record also claim Souttar is Rangers-bound, and it looks like the Gers have got their man.
There are some interesting notes about Souttar in The Sun’s report.
They claim that Steven Gerrard actually started Rangers’ move for Souttar, communicating to his agent that the Gers were interested.
Souttar seemingly thought that a move to Rangers could be in danger when Gerrard left Ibrox for Aston Villa.
However, Giovanni van Bronckhorst is understood to have been doing his homework on Souttar and has approved a deal.
Souttar, 25, is out of contract at the end of the season and can negotiate a pre-contract deal.
Hearts seem resigned to losing Souttar, but are likely to want him to stay until the summer other than leave now.
Souttar has battled serious adversity. The defender has come back from not one, not two but three achilles tears.
Now shining for Hearts and even scoring for Scotland against Denmark in November, Souttar is back to his best.
With Rangers needing additional defensive options, Souttar on a free transfer makes perfect sense – and it looks like the Gers have their second signing of the Van Bronckhorst era, following on from James Sands.
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