Harry Souttar exclusion accelerates Rangers transfer hype as Leicester clock ticks over bomb squad

Forgotten Harry Souttar has continued his absence from the Leicester City defender amid rumours that a move to Rangers could be on the cards.

And Souttar's extended spell in the stands at the King Power Stadium comes less than 24 hours after boss Enzo Maresca admitted he was looking to clear out the squad to fund a busy end to the summer window. The 24-year-old looks to be on the way out of the English Championship side after only making a £15 million move to the Foxes from Stoke City in January - having not played a minute of football so far this term.

Maresca didn't take the Australia international to Rotherham for Leicester's clash on Saturday - which only ramped up speculation over a move to the Scottish Premiership this summer to play alongside his brother John. Speaking ahead of the clash at the New York Stadium, the Italian admitted that their summer business would be gridlocked until his bomb squad were emptied.

He said: "We can’t do anything until some of our players go out. We have too many men. We have 28, 29, 30 players. I can understand, I played for 20 years, if you feel you are second choice or third choice, you are not happy. You train every day because you want to play football. When you are second choice or third choice, you don’t feel good. So probably because they don’t get minutes, they are thinking to leave because they want to enjoy football.

While a hefty price tag may scare Rangers off this summer, reports suggest a loan exit could be on the cards for Souttar. The Leicester Mercury report that the Socceroo is on a shortlist of players who "are all expected to find new clubs, even if only on loan."

Gers boss Michael Beale put the Ibrox support on high alert when he admitted on Friday there was