The news of John Lundstram’s interest in a new contract is very telling: the Rangers midfielder was reported at the start of the season to be high priority for a new deal, a natural reward for a superb campaign last term.
The English enforcer only signed a three-year deal in the summer of 2021, a few months before his idol Steven Gerrard then quit the club for Aston Villa, and after a bit of a hiatus under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, he came onto a superb game the following February onwards and didn’t look back.
Unfortunately, time has caught up with Lundstram, and he’s no longer the best on earth – he is believed to have a bit of an ongoing knock which is hampering him, and his pace, never his strongest suit before, has been made worse by that injury and the clear superiority in that department of new arrival Nicolas Raskin.
In short, Lundstram might be desperate for a new deal but his form this campaign, while solid enough at the start, has suffered since Michael Beale’s arrival, and we’ve seen him looking expendable for the first time.
Lunny is still getting plenty of starts – injury at Ibrox guarantees slots will be available especially in his department.
But a new deal doesn’t look as certain as it once did.
He said:
“I’d love to stay here for as long as the club wants me but there’s nothing at the minute. I love the club and have never shied away from that. I’d love to stay but there’s nothing.”
This is very telling, because Michael Beale made Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent his priority chats during the international break, but no one else appears to have been discussed. And that includes Lundstram.
We still love the lad on Ibrox Noise – big heart and still a strong guy. But he’s suffering from either a dip in form, confidence or the impact of a recurring injury and he’s just not producing on the pitch like he did. This is not to say he’s been poor – he hasn’t. He just hasn’t bestrode the pitch like the colossus he was last season and as things stand, Nicolas Raskin is the better option.
But we do need gut and heart like Lunny, it’s just whether the club seek to extend his term is another matter. He’s guaranteed another season at least, if he does have an injury he really should go for surgery on it now.
Either way, we need more like him and a lot less like Malik Tillman.