When Ross Wilson told the Rangers AGM that he was “relaxed” about the contract situation at the club we had little choice but to trust him to get our best players and most valuable assets tied up to long term deals.
Since then, we’ve seen Leon King and Glen Kamara commit their futures but this still leaves Ryan Kent, Filip Helander, Joe Aribo, Alfredo Morelos, Robbie McCrorie and Ryan Jack all into the last 18-months of their respective deals, and this doesn’t even touch on those that are expiring this summer.
A recurring theme when you listen to what the likes of Connor Goldson have said in the past is that the Champions League is a huge pull for players that – in the main – won’t get the opportunity to play in the continent’s elite competition if they move on and, speaking to Sky Sports, Morelos would appear to be no different:
“I feel very happy in Glasgow, as do my family. My daughter is really settled here, I feel very pleased. Rangers really welcomed me when I joined, as did the fans, so I feel really happy here.
“Playing in the Champions League is a source of motivation for me. We’re going to fight for that.
“My teammates and I are all very positive, that goes for the coaching staff as well. We have a lead at the moment, but we have to perform on the pitch.
“We play for all three points, which are so important, so we want to keep picking up points and stay top of the table to achieve our target which is to win the league and qualify for the Champions League if possible.”
Qualifying for the Champions League will not only help us to attract better players but it will help us pay our best ones more money to persuade them to stay, the ones that we want to of course.
An extra £30-40million to the budget of a Premier League team might not be very much, but for us it would have a huge effect on the budget afforded to the manager and sporting director and would allow for a long-term plan without the need to sell players so that other areas can be strengthened.
The model that we work off now will always see us move player on if the right bids are made but it would mean that more could be invested into the squad – a nirvana that can only be achieved if we retain our title and reach the promised land.