RYAN Jack says he is excited to be staying put and to be a part of the next chapter at Rangers moving forward after it was announced several players will be departing the club following the expiry of their contracts.
The midfielder signed a one-year deal to extend his stay at Ibrox into a seventh year recently as the Gers announced the departures of Scott Arfield, Filip Helander, Ryan Kent, Allan McGregor and Alfredo Morelos at the end of the season.
Speaking to the media in this afternoon’s press conference ahead of the side’s final home fixture of the season against Hearts, Jack has paid tribute to those leaving for their contributions to the club and is looking forward to being part of the squad ahead of the new campaign.
He said: “It is exciting for me. It had been in the background for a while, obviously speaking to the manager since he came in, and he said he wanted to keep me and keep me as part of the squad and part of his time at Rangers. I am settled and I love playing for the club, so it was an easy decision for me to make personally.
“At some point you always know as a player that there are going to be changes at clubs, and clubs move on and as players we get older, obviously the time has come this summer where a lot of people are moving on. It is important that the type of characters and ability in the changing room that we are losing that we replace that.
“It has been a huge contribution, every single player that is going to be leaving has brought so much to the club over the last four or five years that they have been a part of it, they all big characters and huge in the changing room on and off the pitch. They are all going to be hugely missed but we all know in football people move on, but they have great ability every single one of them and they have been unbelievable for the club.”
The 31-year-old is happy to be part of the changing midfield dynamic at the club with the likes of recent new signings Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin both impressing since arriving in January and he feels he among others will have a part to play in helping further new signings to settle in quickly as changes happen over the summer.
He continued: “Todd and Nico have been fantastic since they came into the club, you can see the ability that they both bring, Todd is maybe a bit more attacking-minded but they both have been excellent and settled in well, that is going to be our role after the summer. We have helped settle them in so quickly so it is going to important that whoever comes to the club going forward that we try settle them as quickly as we can and get ready to get results.
“That is going to be up not just myself, I will have a part of that to play I would imagine, but there is a lot of experience in the changing room still, John Lundstram, James Tavernier, Connor Goldson etc that have been here for a number of years. It is going to be that core that is going to play a part and make sure that whoever comes in that we gel well and we are ready to hit the ground running and trying to get results straight away.”
The Light Blues entertain Hearts in their final Scottish Premiership home fixture tomorrow evening and the Scotland international hopes the departing players can get the send-off they deserve from the supporters at Ibrox.
He added: “Everyone individually have given their all for the club every time they have worn the shirt, it will be great for them to get that send-off tomorrow night, and hopefully we can end on two wins for the boys.
“It is a great group of lads that are going to be leaving the building, they have great attitudes, mindsets and mentalities and they are all professional players, so they know that there is two games to go, and we are going to give everything to finish the season well, when the end of the season does come we wish them well and look forward to next season.”