Ryan Porteous: Who is the Sunderland, West Brom and Watford 'target' and why he will be made available for transfer by Hibernian in January

Porteous has admirers in France, Belgium and in England but a move to the Championship appears ‘most likely’ for the 23 year old. Sunderland, West Brom, Norwich City and Watford have all been credited with an interest in the defender by Football League World.

But just who is Porteous? What type of player is he and what has he, and current Hibs boss Lee Johnson, said about his future?

Who is Ryan Porteous?

Porteous is a Scotland international that currently plays his football for Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League. Save for a one-season loan spell at Edinburgh City, the 23 year old has spent his entire career at Hibs after coming through their academy set-up.

He made his league debut for Hibs in a 3-0 win over Kilmarnock in October 2017 and has played over 150 games for the SPL side. Standing at 1.88m, Porteus is a commanding figure in defence and was rewarded for his fine club form by Scotland manager Steve Clark in September when he made his international bow in their Nations League clash with Ukraine.

What has Porteous said about his future?

Porteous’ contract has been a major talking point for Hibs supporters all campaign, but the defender admitted in October that he wanted to concentrate on his football and that any update on his situation wouldn’t come before the World Cup break.

“We made that quite clear to Hibs that I'll just be focusing on my football for now.” Porteous told Edinburgh News. “When there's a break before Christmas then we could potentially re-evaluate it then.”

What has Lee Johnson said about Porteous’ Hibs future?

As Hibs supporters were kept on tenterhooks by Porteus’ refusal to comment on a new deal until the break for the Qatar World Cup, the former Black Cats boss finally issued an update on the situation in November. Johnson revealed that Porteous would not be signing a new deal with the club and that he would likely leave in January.

Johnson said, as quoted by the Scotsman: “The fact is and I’m probably better off just coming out with it, he ain’t signing a new contract. At the end of the day, we’ve offered a fantastic contract, a really big one for the football club and in my eyes a contract that should have been offered two-and-a-half years earlier for a player of that quality.

“I’ve got no issue with Ryan at all. He turned down the best contact we could offer and therefore is seeking pastures new.

“I think potentially a January sale would be the best idea if we realise the fee, because at that point you can reinvest the money back into the club. That does not necessarily mean a replacement for Ryan Porteous, that could be giving a young player more on their contract. We can’t do anymore in terms of what we’ve done, the conversations have been good but he’s got a high profile and he is a young player on a free.”