(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson is confident John Souttar will return to the Hearts squad on Wednesday night when the Jambos face Celtic in the Scottish Premiership – as the Tynecastle boss confirmed his side have rejected a bid from Rangers for the Scotland international.
Souttar has signed a pre-contract with the Light Blues ahead of his contract expiring in the summer and Hearts are holding out for £500k-plus for Souttar, with Rangers understood to have bid around £300k.
Neilson insists an ankle knock was the reason he missed yesterday’s 5-0 cup rout of Auchinleck Talbot as he insisted the defender has a big part to play as Hearts push to secure third place.
“John has an ankle injury. I know everyone will be looking more into it after what has happened but that’s the truth,” Neilson said.
“He will be in the squad for Wednesday until something changes.
“We have had a bid in, but that has been knocked out of the ballpark.
“We value John very very highly and until that valuation is met then he will be a Hearts player.
“We are chasing a run in the cup and European football.”
NTOF now offers a YouTube channel featuring exclusive interviews, post-match discussion, in-depth debate, and much more – LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and don’t miss any of our videos.