Neilson expecting Souttar to still be at Hearts when window closes

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson is expecting John Souttar to still be at Tynecastle when the transfer window closes.

The Scotland defender has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Rangers from next season and the Ibrox side are believed to be keen on getting him in before midnight on Monday and an opening bid has already been rejected.

However Neilson says there has been no new offers since and is adamant that the 25-year-old remains in his plans as Hearts prepare to take on Edinburgh rivals Hibernian on Tuesday.

Speaking about the Souttar situation on Monday, the Hearts boss said: “It’s the same as it’s been for the last week, there has been no more offers.

“John missed training today with an ankle knock, but he will be fine for tomorrow night, it’s just a case of waiting to see what happens to be honest with you.

“We just need to get on with it, we are doing out prep today, we kind of where we are with it and then we will make a decision tomorrow morning.”

Hearts are currently sitting in third place in the Scottish Premiership and Neilson is confident that the squad he has at his disposal will have enough to keep up the progress in the second half of the season.

“We are actively looking to see what’s out there in the market, we have said all along that it has to be the right one to come in so there is no panic here, we have some other really good defenders, but first and foremost we would like to keep John if we can.”

“I am very happy with the squad that we have got, I was happy with the squad in the summer and have made some strong additions to it as well so are please and if we can keep a hold of John it will be a brilliant window.”

Meanwhile Rangers are in talks with Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey over a loan move for the Wales star.