Heart of Midlothian suffered yet another Premiership defeat on the weekend as Glasgow Rangers scored two late goals to deny them their first domestic win since September.
It has been a tough start to the season under Steven Naismith as the Jambos now currently occupy seventh place in the table, just two points from the relegation playoff spots and something has to change at Tynecastle in the next few weeks.
Lawrence Shankland, a player who netted 28 goals across all competitions last season, has struggled to match the same sort of consistency this term, finding the back of the net on just seven occasions and this is costing Hearts massively.
This has resulted in the Edinburgh side having the joint second worst attacking record in the Premiership and unless Shankland improves along with several others chipping in with some goals, they could slide towards the relegation spots.
With players such as Josh Ginnelly leaving during the summer, Naismith has struggled to replace his attacking output and this appears to have cost the club this term.
This has been a recurring theme in recent years, allowing talented players to leave for free or minimal fees. Of course, it is difficult to keep players at the club when a higher-profile team is calling, but losing several players has arguably weakened Hearts of late.
John Souttar is another example of someone who had impressed during their spell at the club yet left for nothing last year to join Rangers.
How much Hearts signed John Souttar for
The young defender had made a solid impression at Dundee United, making 73 appearances for the club before Hearts came calling in 2016, securing his signature for a fee in the region of £170k.
It proved to be an excellent piece of transfer business as Souttar became one of the finest defenders at Hearts during his six-year spell in Edinburgh.
John Souttar’s Hearts statistics
Overall, the Scot made 162 appearances for Hearts, yet he also missed 117 games through injury in just six years as he suffered a couple of Achilles tendon ruptures which ruled him out for large periods at a time, and it is a testament to his resilience that he managed to overcome these setbacks.
He enjoyed some high praise during his stint at the Gorgie side and none more so than from Craig Levein, who hailed him after an excellent performance against Inverness in the 2019 Scottish Cup semifinal.
He said: “I’ve known him since he was 12 years old, and he’s just got better and better. When he came here from Dundee Utd, we just needed to give him time.
“He’s grown into the player that I hoped he would be and for me he’s the best centre back in Scotland.
“Just for the fact that he can do wonderful things. His passing of the ball Saturday was fantastic, but he is also now capable physically of competing with any centre forward. His pace is very, very good and he’s strong, focused and aggressive."
Perhaps a tad hyperbolic at the time, yet his performances grew in stature, and he eventually made his Scotland debut in 2018 having impressed at Hearts.
His final season at the club saw arguably his most consistent performances as he ranked second across the squad for accurate passes per game in the Premiership, while also ranking second for clearances and third for interceptions per game as Hearts reached the Scottish Cup final while finishing third in the league.
By this point, however, Souttar had already signed a pre-contract agreement with Rangers and joined them in the summer of 2022 for a fresh challenge.
What John Souttar did after leaving Hearts
While moving to the Ibrox side was a step up, Souttar’s old injury issues soon returned to haunt him. During his first competitive match for the Gers, he was brought off prematurely due to suffering an ankle injury and this disrupted his debut season in Glasgow.
He missed a grand total of 46 matches, playing only 13 games during the whole season, yet it gave him a platform to build on ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, and he has impressed so far for the Light Blues.
45.1
63.3
0.8
0.9
0.8
1
2.6
3.4
5.7
5.1
Indeed, his league displays have been so impressive that he is actually outperforming Hearts defender Kye Rowles this term, despite the latter enjoying a solid campaign thus far.
Souttar has not only averaged more accurate passes per game than the Australian defender (63.3 vs 55.6), but he has also made more tackles per game (0.9 vs 0.8), been dribbled past on fewer occasions per game (0.1 vs 0.3) and lost possession less often each match (8.7 vs 10.4).
The Scot has also demonstrated a greater physical presence as he won more ground (1.7 vs 1.5) and aerial duels (3.4 vs 2.4) than the current Hearts centre-back and there is no doubt he would be of great help to Naismith during this current moment in time.
The 6 foot 1 gem is finally showing the Ibrox faithful the ability which led to his move from Hearts in the first place and has become one of the key members of the squad, especially since getting himself back fit following his ankle injury last season.
Rowles is not having a bad season either, currently ranking first across the squad for accurate passes per game while also topping the pile for interceptions and ranking second for clearances per game, indicating that he is performing well.
With Souttar outperforming him however, it goes to show that Hearts have made a mistake in letting Souttar go, even though it looked inevitable he would depart one day.
His recent displays for Rangers have proven that he can succeed at the very highest level and Hearts should be given plenty of praise for sticking by him during his injury nightmare and developing him into one of the finest centre-backs in the country.