Rangers FC Player Profile - John Souttar

John Francis Souttar was born on 25th September 1996 in Aberdeen, Scotland. He began his youth career at Brechin City Youths—the club where his father had once played professional football, and now helped coach him.

In 2006, aged just nine years old, Souttar joined the youth system at Dundee United, and spent the next seven years progressing through their ranks.

First Professional Contract and Senior Debut at Dundee United

Souttar signed his first professional contract at the Terrors in July 2012, and was assigned to the club’s Under-20 development squad. However, injuries and suspensions for senior players ahead of him in the pecking order meant he made his first team debut as early as January 2013.

He became the youngest ever player—at 16 years and 99 days old—to ever play for the club, starting in central defense away at Aberdeen.

Over the next three-and-a-half seasons, Souttar made 73 senior appearances for Dundee United, scoring two goals and providing three assists.

Move to Midlothian and Medical Nightmares

In February 2016, Souttar moved to Heart of Midlothian. He settled in quickly, and featured regularly at the start of the 2016-17 season. However, he ruptured his achilles tendon in January 2017 against Celtic, and missed the rest of the season. Further injuries [hip and ankle] would continue to disrupt his time at Hearts, and another achilles tear—in his other leg—threatened to prematurely end his career in February 2020.

Consequently, Souttar managed just 15 appearances in all competitions across two seasons—2019/20 and 2020/21. In total, he played in 162 matches over six-and-a-half seasons for Hearts, scoring six goals and creating five assists.

Transfer to Rangers FC and Hopes for the Future

Rangers FC signed Souttar on free transfer upon expiration of his contract at Hearts in June 2022, having announced a pre-contract agreement in January.

Souttar made his debut on 30th July against Livingston but injuries continued to plague him throughout the 2022-23 season—he missed 220 days of football, and 50 matches for the Light Blues and Scotland.

Last season, however, he remained miraculously injury free, and has featured in seven matches for the Gers already this season. Overall, he has played in 61 matches for the club, scoring three goals and providing two assists.

If he can remain thus free of injury for an extended period, his experience and quality could prove massive boon for Philippe Clement’s young squad.

Of Nation and Family

Souttar has represented Scotland at various age groups—U17, U18, U19, and U21—making 28 appearances. He has played nine international matches for the senior Scotland national football team, and scored one goal in the World Cup qualifier at home against Denmark in November 2021.

John’s younger brother, Harry Souttar, is currently on loan at Sheffield United in the EFL Championship from Premier League side Leicester City. Harry, like John, plays in central defense but represents Australia at international level—the brothers eligible through their mother’s side of the family.

All appearances stats were taken from Transfermarkt.com