Rangers may rue cost of Souttar penny-pinching

PENNY for the thoughts of John Souttar after that Rangers performance at Celtic Park. Signed on a pre-contract agreement, another £150k plus add-ons would have pinched the Hearts central defender on deadline day.

Instead, the Ibrox club cut a deal to pay Juventus significantly more to borrow Aaron Ramsey for four months. And on Wednesday night, the new signing sat watching from the stand as Celtic rattled three first-half goals past a defence which couldn’t block Boris Johnson from a work event. In the landscape of Glasgow football, the narrative can change in a blink of an eye.

Ally McCoist described the Ramsey signing as the best since Gazza. Others hailed sporting director Ross Wilson for pulling off a loan deal regarded as a game-changer.

On the basis of that first half the other night, it better be. For the price of an Aaron Ramsey cameo, Ange Postecoglou went out and signed Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley on long-term contracts. And the pair had the run of the midfield as Celtic went top of the league with 14 games to go.

There’s nothing won yet. Ramsey is bound to come in and conjure up moments of magic in a Rangers jersey. There will be days when he looks every inch the superstar footballer. Whether he’ll produce either often enough to make a real difference to the title race is the question.

A creative midfielder, a man of his talents can’t be expected to plug a defence leaking like the Downing Street mole. Last season, the Ibrox side lost 13 goals over a 38-game league campaign. This season they’ve already shipped eight more than that in just 24 matches. No one thinks John Souttar is the new Franco Baresi.

But with £30million up for grabs to this season’s title winners, a reluctance to pay Hearts the going rate on deadline day could finish up costing Rangers a heck of a lot more than Aaron Ramsey.