HEARTS boss Robbie Neilson insists he is in no rush to sell in-demand John Souttar.
The 20-year-old impressive centre-half has been linked with a January move to English Championship side Aston Villa with new manager Steve Bruce looking to strengthen his defence.
Souttar, who signed for the
Tynecastle outfit from Dundee United for a bargain £150,000 at the turn of the year, is under contract until the
summer of 2019. Celtic also expressed an interest in the highly rated defender when he was at Tannadice.
Neilson said: “We’ve certainly not got any plans to cash in on John. He’s one of our key players and he’s been great this season.
“But John knows he’s got a few years left here before he’s ready to make a move.
”I think there’s interest in a lot of our players, but the window doesn’t open until January. I expect all our good players
to be linked with teams in England.
“If they’re not, then there’s a problem.”
Meanwhile, Faycal Rherras is available to return to the Hearts side for Wednesday’s trip to in form Kilmarnock.
The Moroccan left-back missed the 2-0 win over Dundee nine days ago
after falling ill while on international duty.
Neilson added: “Faycal’s fine. He picked up a bug when he was away with the national team.
“He was sick and felt terrible and had to go to hospital but he’s fine now. He trained over the weekend.”
