Philippe Clement has confirmed what Ibrox Noise reported some days ago, that John Lundstram will remain at Rangers if the club pay him what he is worth.
As we discussed some time previously, Lundstram admitted he wants to stay, but that the details are ‘private between me and the club’.
We revealed to you the bottom line was money, and the boy wants a decent pay raise like any well-performing employee does, and he has the aces up his sleeve regarding his reported £22,000 pw current deal.
Clement confirmed the same thing:
“It’s a financial thing between John and the club. Both parties have shown an interest to do it (sign new deal) – that is clear. But we will see in the next couple of weeks and months. He’s in a situation where he can sign somewhere else. But it’s clear that he feels good at Rangers and with our way of working. Everyone tells me that he’s showing a better level than he had at the beginning of the season. So I want him to continue like that and then there will be a solution between the two parties. Have I told him I want him to stay? I talk with my players every day so it’s clear what my mind is about that.”
Lundstram is a Premier League-level midfielder who is nowhere near Rangers’ best-paid player, which sits with Connor Goldson and Danilo at the £40,000 pw mark.
Lunny wants closer to that, and in truth, he’s worth it. He’s been a good performer this season, lifting his level further since the arrival of Philippe Clement, and if Rangers want that quality of midfielder in the middle, it costs money.
He wants to be at Ibrox for the foreseeable future, but he wants a fair increase on his wage – he’d likely be happy with 30 we think, but that’s conjecture.
The point is, his stock is strong, and he’d have no issue finding a Premier League team if he and Rangers cannot come to agreement, but Rangers are his first choice.
Compare that with Connor Goldson who never once suggested he wanted to stay, he kept evading the question about his contract with ‘my agent deals with that’.
No, it’s a question of money, and Rangers need to fork out or lose the lad.
Board’s call.