Nottingham Forest are interested in a January deal for Heart of Midlothian's John Souttar according to Football Insider.
The 25-year-old has been linked with Rangers and Stoke City in recent weeks with Forest joining the race for his signature. Souttar scored in Scotland's 2-0 win over Denmark on Monday evening and is the brother of Stoke and Australia centre back Harry Souttar.
John Souttar's contract runs out at the end of the season in the Scottish Premiership and Hearts have struggled to convince the centre back to commit his future to them. Which means there is value to be had in terms of paying a smaller transfer fee for his services due to only having half a season left on his deal.
Outside of their current starting trio of Tobias Figueiredo, Joe Worrall and Scott McKenna (also a Scotland international), there is room for improvement in the Reds' cover options in defence. Loic Mbe Soh and Rodrigo Ely remain fairly unknown quantities at the City Ground and if Steve Cooper is to persist with a three at the back system, getting another one through the door would be a sensible move.
It feels like it is mainly John Souttar's contract situation that is doing the heavy lifting in terms attracting potential suitors.
The Verdict
In terms of Forest's squad depth chart, there is an intense drop-off in quality to come in should one of Worrall, Figueiredo or McKenna sustain an injury. Therefore, bringing John Souttar in would be a low risk signing with the chance he develops into an astute Championship centre back.
Not making these types of shrewd additions has hampered Forest in the long run in recent years and at a reduced price it is an opportunity to jump at. If John Souttar is anywhere near as good as his brother then he will adjust to the second tier with ease and prove an excellent bit of business for Cooper's men should they get this one over the line.
It will be interesting to monitor how this situation develops and if John Souttar's list of admirers continues to grow as we approach the turn of the year.