There are rumbling murmurs another Rangers player is to receive a new contract and wage increase to make him the top-paid player at the club, following Dujon Sterling’s new deal.
Rangers are working on pinning down the spine of the team, and with Connor Barron firmly entrenched in midfield, while Sterling has been extended an extra year – and there’s word on the grapevine another key asset will be extended as well.
Jack Butland, who is currently tied down till summer 2027 is rumoured to also be getting an extension, with his being viewed as a massive club asset the board and manager do not want to lose.
Currently paid around £35,000pw, the ex-Stoke goalie is already among Rangers’ top earners (James Tavernier and Danilo are the best paid at the moment) and after what Philippe Clement said about him some months ago, the board wants to get Butland sealed up as the complete outright top asset at Rangers.
And the rumour we’re learning is he might be in line for a staggering two-year extension, taking him up to 2029, which would be pretty astonishing for a goalie who hasn’t really been at his absolute best since around March.
Clement painted him as the club’s top player many many weeks ago, saying that he simply couldn’t be sold, hinting that only a bid of crazy crazy money (well over £20M) would be enough to tempt.
And the club seems to want to secure that, by pinning him down to a longer deal, almost certainly taking his wage to the top of the Rangers tree into the £40,000pw+ range.
We kind of hope this one isn’t true, that our information is wrong – it doesn’t seem necessary and we can’t say his performances have merited it.
But we do know Clement loves him and he’s by far the number one – Liam Kelly will rarely play while Butland is around, and if the board and manager get their way, that isn’t going to change for a long time!
Watch this space.