'One or two things': Further Rangers transfer still possible as Derek McInnes rules out complete freeze

The former Hearts defender hasn’t featured at all this season and was widely tipped to move on from Ibrox last week before most of the mainstream transfer windows closed.

Some international markets, however, remain open for business - including Cyprus, Poland, Mexico, Greece and Israel - and McInnes said he expects Souttar will move on sooner rather than later.

The manager said: “I think he still can (play a part for us) but John has been told that his long-term future would be best served elsewhere. He still has good opportunities to move.

“There are a few windows still open in Europe and there are a few things looking possible for John. I don’t want to speculate too much but I think there are one or two things he’s quite keen on getting a bit of traction.”

Souttar was for so long a mainstay in the Rangers team and signed a new one-year extension to his contract in February before heading to the World Cup as part of the Scotland squad.

But he has failed to get a look-in since McInnes became manager and didn’t travel to Spain with the rest of the squad for their pre-season training camp.

Emmanuel Fernandez and summer recruit Olwethu Makhanya have become the first-choice pairing at centre-back, with cover provided by two other new arrivals in Ben Godfrey and Ross McCrorie.

Souttar had been tipped to move to England in the summer and was linked with a number of clubs without a deal being completed.

McInnes believes it is still better for the 29-year-old to exit Rangers but said he would not freeze out the player entirely if a move doesn’t happen.

He added: “Probably for him to go get regular football somewhere else might be the best option for him. But if something doesn’t materialise then of course we’ll honour the contract and he’ll come back into things.”