John Souttar, born at the ripe age of zero on the 25th of September 1996, has spent the majority of his precious 29 years kicking about a football in the chilly climes of Scotland. Broad of shoulder, standing at 6ft 2in (1.88m) and tipping the scales at 11st 11lb (75 kg) he naturally chose to ply his footballing trade as a central defender. The wee laddie dons the number 5 jersey for his club, a classic choice for a centre back and must be warmly congratulated on avoiding the ludicrous high numbers that have somehow infiltrated the modern game.
Our protagonist began his illustrious(?) career at Dundee United in July of 2012, hotfooting it from the youth team to the professional ranks. Oh, what a glorious debut season he must have had, featuring a whole eight times in the hallowed Tannadice park. He developed a taste for it, and went on to make a total of 63 appearances and scored a single goal over four seasons, that's a goal every 63 games if you're keeping track. A scoring record to make any striker jealous, I'm sure.
However, dunderhead Dundee deemed him surplus to their lofty requirements, and in February of 2016, he was shipped off to Hearts for a questionable fee of £150,000 (ah, the heady days before transfer market inflation). The records show that he made a total of 120 appearances for Hearts over six seasons, even managing to bag 6 league goals, clearly buoyed by his wildly successful goal-scoring recital at Dundee.
One might wonder what could motivate such a stalwart of Scottish football to switch from the maroon of Hearts to the blue void of Rangers. His own personal version of "follow the money", perhaps? Whatever the reason he did it, he didn't manage to replicate his rampant goal-scoring form. Despite making 79 league appearances over four seasons for the Bears, Souttar only managed a paltry 4 goals, cutting his heart felt goal to games ratio considerably.
Aside from club duties, the patriotic Souttar has draped himself in tartan for his homeland, desperately chasing a ball around a field for the Scotland national team in World Cup and Nations League qualifiers. It must be noted that his endeavors on the international stage haven't amounted to many heroic tales for this tale's protagonist.
Sadly, due to the distinct lack of green and white hoops in his career, there's no need for a detailed analysis of his time at Celtic. Funny that, isn't it?
