Harry Souttar finally made his first Leicester City appearance of the season in midweek after the Australia international missed out on a summer move to Rangers.
And while the former Dundee United colossus ended up on the wrong side at Anfield – a Dominik Szoboszlai-inspired Liverpool coming from behind to kick Leicester out of the Carabao Cup – Harry Souttar certainly did his hopes of a more regular role in Enzo Maresca’s plans no harm at all on Merseyside.
On his first outing of the entire campaign – and his first appearance in Maresca’s matchday squad – Souttar helped keep Liverpool at arms’ length until Szoboszlai’s sizzling Steven Gerrard tribute act in the second half.
According to Football Scotland, Rangers saw a potential deal for the 6ft 7ins centre-half collapse after missing out on Champions League qualification. That humbling at PSV Eindhoven meaning Mick Beale’s side could no longer afford Souttar’s salary demands.
And while the Scotland-born stopper still has a long way to go before he can win over Maresca at Leicester, that Liverpool display was most definitely a good start.
Rangers miss out on Leicester’s Harry Souttar
“Absolutely, Harry Souttar was very good,” Maresca said at full-time. “He is our player. He is one of the players in the squad. For sure, he could be an option (going forward).”
The younger brother of Rangers centre-back John Souttar, 24-year-old Harry admitted to Leicestershire Live recently that, following a summer of intense speculation, his focus was solely on forcing his way back into Maresca’s plans and rediscovering the form that encouraged the Foxes to invest £15 million in him back in January.
Souttar fighting to win over Enzo Maresca
“It’s been tough,” Souttar sighed. “I think there were a lot of things mentioned in the press about going on loan.
“I am a Leicester player. I’m going to do everything in my power to try to get back into the squad. Obviously, it’s the manager’s decision. So all I can do is work hard and try to prove to him that I can get back in the squad.”
