Ryan Porteous has decided to leave Hibernian and his departure may just give Celtic and Rangers something to think about in 2023.
It’s only natural that Celtic and Rangers look closely at any talent emerging in the Scottish Premiership.
The likes of David Turnbull and Greg Taylor have become first-team player at Celtic after arriving from Motherwell and Kilmarnock respectively.
Rangers raid Scottish clubs more regularly, landing the likes of Ryan Jack, John Souttar, Glen Kamara and Scott Wright from Scottish Premiership rivals.
Ryan Porteous is leaving Hibernian
Some have slipped through the net and headed to England or even Italy; John McGinn, Josh Doig and Lewis Ferguson spring to mind.
There will now be questions over where Ryan Porteous ends up.
Hibernian confirmed on Saturday that Porteous has decided that he will not be signing a new deal at Easter Road.
Porteous is out of contract at the end of the season and has indicated that he will now leave Edinburgh in 2023.
Hibs may look to sell Porteous for a knockdown fee in January rather than risk him leaving for nothing in the summer, but he’s on his way.
Porteous, 23, has racked up almost 150 appearances for his boyhood club Hibs but feels the time is right to move on.
Just last month, pundit Kris Boyd suggested that Celtic and Rangers should both be looking at signing Porteous.
Boyd praised Porteous for having ‘bags of talent’ and believed that the central defender was ready for a big step up.
In truth though, it’s hard to imagine that Celtic will move for Porteous.
Celtic have just signed a new centre back in Yuki Kobayashi and the Bhoys are unlikely to move for another in January.
Rangers may need to add another centre in 2023 though, especially with Connor Goldson, Ben Davies, Filip Helander and John Souttar all suffering injury problems this season.
Porteous in a bargain deal would feel similar to the Souttar move in fact; a player who can add depth at the back and knows Scottish football well.
Yet it may be time for Rangers to stop thinking about depth and go in for players who actually improve their starting XI – and that may not be Porteous.
English Championship clubs will surely have an interest in Porteous but we can’t really see Rangers or Celtic moving in for him.