{"id":1090581,"date":"2026-07-15T11:02:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1090581\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T11:02:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:02:31","slug":"sheffield-united-lead-race-for-john-souttar-as-proposed-mls-replacement-is-ruled-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1090581\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield United lead race for John Souttar as proposed MLS replacement is ruled out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/ Add as preferred source on Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

Rangers defender John Souttar is on the brink of an Ibrox exit just five months after extending his contract, with Sheffield United stealing a march on Leicester City in the race for his signature.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the transfer headlines have been dominated by interest from Leicester, spurred on by a potential reunion with former Rangers<\/a> boss Russell Martin and the presence of his brother Harry at the King Power Stadium, a major development has flown completely under the radar.<\/p>\n

According to The Scottish Sun<\/a>, Sheffield United are leading the race to sign the 29-year-old Scotland international.<\/p>\n

Where does John Souttar rank among the best defenders in the Scottish Premiership? <\/p>\n

He was handed a new Rangers contract earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\"JohnPhoto by Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images Sheffield United lead the race as Chris Wilder steps up<\/p>\n

Souttar\u2019s absence from Rangers\u2019 warm-weather pre-season training camp<\/a> in Spain came as a huge surprise.<\/p>\n

The centre-back was left behind in Glasgow alongside Brazilian forward Danilo<\/a>, specifically to iron out his immediate future.<\/p>\n

While Leicester remain a strong admirer, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder is a long-term fan of the central defender.<\/p>\n

\"ScotlandPhoto by Molly Darlington\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Wilder has moved quickly to place the Blades at the front of the queue, with ongoing negotiations pointing toward a permanent switch south of the border.<\/p>\n

Souttar only signed a contract extension in February to run until May 2027, but he is not seen as part of manager Derek McInnes<\/a>\u2018 plans as he continues to aggressively overhaul the squad.<\/p>\n

Olwethu Makhanya proposed to Rangers, but McInnes unmoved<\/p>\n

With Souttar\u2019s departure looking highly likely, speculation has naturally turned to who might replace the experienced defender.<\/p>\n

Earlier reports suggested Philadelphia Union\u2019s rising star Olwethu Makhanya had been identified as an active, direct replacement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"SouthPhoto by Luke Hales \u2013 FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old South Africa international, who featured at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, was proposed to the Glasgow giants a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

However, any expectations of a swift move for the MLS defender have been quickly downplayed.<\/p>\n

The Scottish Sun reports that despite the player being offered to the club, Makhanya does not feature prominently on McInnes\u2019 radar.<\/p>\n

As McInnes continues to ruthlessly restructure his squad, it appears the Rangers boss is keeping his options open and looking elsewhere for defensive reinforcements rather than pursuing the MLS youngster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Add as preferred source on Google Rangers defender John Souttar is on the brink of an Ibrox exit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1090582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,393,4884,297825,297826,1620,16,15],"class_list":["post-1090581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sheffield","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-john-souttar","tag-olwethu-makhanya","tag-sheffield","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116923660554521499","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1090581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1090581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1090581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1090582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1090581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1090581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1090581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}