James Tavernier to sign new Rangers contract

James Tavernier will be staying at Rangers until 2021, according to reports in the media this morning.

Well, he’ll be signing a new deal that runs until 2021, at least. Which is fantastic news as we tie down one of our best players - and probably our best player this year at the very least - for longer, ensuring we won’t lose him on the cheap.

Tavernier was linked with Reading and Sunderland in the summer, and while English clubs aren’t short of money, Jesus Christ, imagine it. Going from European nights at Ibrox to a grim, hapless miserable club in a dead English market town, or heading to Wearside to play for the biggest tire fire of a club since... hmm, none spring to mind. Let us know in the comments.

Anyway, this is fantastic news and well-deserved for a player who has improved drastically this year. Not only has he gotten far better at defending, he’s also become much more consistent while also increasing the top of his game too - and the fact that his very best came against Celtic and Aberdeen makes it even better.

Tavernier cost us just a couple of hundred thousand pounds, and while right-backs might not go for the most money compared to other positions, you’d imagine he’ll eventually leave for many multiples of that sum and it will go down as one of our greatest bargains.

Tavernier captained Rangers against Ayr on Sunday, but he’s been a real on-pitch leader for the entire season, scoring and creating important goals while making important last-ditch interventions in our area and generally grabbing games by the scruff of the neck. For a right-back, that’s a pretty impressive record. Long may it continue.