Ex Hearts ace told Rangers exit is best case scenario as Derek McInnes serves brutal Lawrence Shankland update
Rangers have sent a future update on a former Hearts star as another faces long-term injury.
A former Hearts star has been told his long-term future is better served away from Rangers.
John Souttar only signed a new deal at the Premiership side this year and is one of several ex-Jambos at Ibrox including manager Derek McInnes, Cammy Devlin, James Penrice and Lawrence Shankland. Centre-back Souttar is out on the Light Blues fringes but appeared likely to remain for the first half of the season following last week’s summer transfer window closure.
Cyprus, Greece and Switzerland transfer windows remain open though alongside the lucrative Saudi Arabian market. McInnes admits the Scotland defender is better taking a move away from Rangers but a road back to Ibrox contention could await if it doesn’t come off.
Does John Souttar have a Rangers future?
The Rangers boss said: “I think he still can play a part but the likelihood is that…John has been told that his long-term future would be best served elsewhere. He still has good opportunities to move.
“There’s a few windows still open in Europe and there is a few things looking possible for John. I don’t want to speculate too much but I think there are one or two things he’s quite keen on getting a bit of traction.
“Probably for him to go get regular football somewhere else might be the best option for him. But if something doesn’t materialise then of course we’ll honour the contract and he’ll come back into things.”
McInnes also confirmed Shankland will be missing for up to four months. The former Hearts boss feared a repeat of the hamstring injury that ruled the striker out for over two months at Tynecastle in the second half of last season and those concerns are now realised.
Lawrence Shankland injury update
At least three months of action could be missed and that could extend into January with surgery a possible option. McInnes said: “Lawrence had his scan with confirmation that he's had a tear. It's a cm tear in his hamstring, very similar to the one he did at Hearts last January.
"He's actually in London now, getting an ultrasound scan which is just to determine whether he has surgery, or whether we let that heal naturally as it did the last time. We'll have a better understanding after the ultrasound scan and the specialist appointment in London, which should shed some light on that and get a bit more clarity.
"We're somewhere in the ballpark region of three and four months out. The best-case scenario is about three months, the worst case about four.
"It's unfortunate. This injury in particular, once you have done it once, if you don't have the surgery I believe there's a 20 to 30% chance it could happen again. But if you get the surgery, it minimises that risk quite significantly. It might be worthwhile, the fact he has done it twice, but the specialist will decide on the best course of action."
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