Steven Gerrard has challenged his players prove they deserve bumper new contracts by leading Rangers to the title.
The Ibrox boss hopes to deal in Glen Kamara after watching the Finland international run the show against Celtic during Saturday’s Old Firm triumph.
But Gerrard admits he is in no rush to extended defender Connor Goldson’s contract beyond its current expiration date of May 2022 despite seeing the Englishman prove to be the derby hero with his Parkhead brace.
Instead, he would prefer to do his negotiating from a position of strength once the Light Blues have finally banked the Premiership silverware they long for.
Asked if Gers planned to rush through the signing talks to stave off interest in Anderlecht target Kamara, Gerrard said: “I don’t know is the answer to your question. If it was my decision the answer would be yes.
“I’ve made my feelings known to Ross (Wilson, sporting director) and the board on that situation.
“We want Glen around us for as long as possible and everyone knows my feelings on that situation.”
On Goldson, he added: “I think Connor is on a good contract as we speak, there is certainly no rush on that one
“I can name probably a dozen players that in the back of my mind, I am certainly thinking about in terms of extensions and different contracts.
“I don’t think there is any rush at the moment, there is nobody whose time is running out that we are desperate to chase to put pen to paper.
“I think we are in a good place. I think the message to all the players is to win football games and reward the club come the end of the season – and then we will certainly look after those individuals.”
Gers will look to use the soaring confidence produced by their Parkhead victory to springboard them back to the Europa League knock-out rounds after their march to the last 16 last term.
They kick-off their third consecutive group stage campaign against Standard Liege in Belgium on tonight and Gerrard is well aware the riches produced by those European runs have bankrolled the improvements he has been able to make since taking over three summers ago.
“Without giving too much information away, this club needs to be in Europe for financial reasons and I have probably had the backing and support I have had up to date because we have been so successful in terms of manoeuvring through the three qualifying campaigns,” he said.
“This year is different because of Covid and having no fans in the stadium but, without a doubt, I think as a staff we have earned the support that we have got and it has enabled us to go and try and bring certain individuals in to support the good players that we have got.
“That needs to continue. We are not a finished team, we are not a finished group and there are still some areas where we need to keep trying to strive to be better. But we have to play our part as well by trying to play as many games as we can because it certainly helps and gives the board confidence to go and back up.”
