Michael Beale provides Ryan Jack future update as Rangers contract expires in June 2023
Rangers manager Michael Beale has admitted he wants to finalise the contract situation of midfielder Ryan Jack “sooner rather than later”, as relayed by The Athletic.
Jack’s contract at Ibrox expires at the end of the 2023 season, which means he is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with any club outside Scotland after January.
Beale waxed lyrical about the 30-year-old’s performances when speaking to the press ahead of the Gers’ upcoming fixture against St. Johnstone on Saturday (28 January) and suggested he wanted to wrap up his contract situation in the near future.
As reported by The Atheltic (27 January), Beale said: “The individual situations within it will depend on health and form and the direction the club is going in. I also want to see a little bit between now and the end of the season in one or two. I know the ones I would like to stay and who I think can be important for us.
“Ryan Jack is playing really well, we are on the same page and had a brief conversation a couple of weeks ago. For Ryan it’s about being healthy and playing and earlier in the season he was probably doing neither.
“Since I’ve come in he has been a main part of the team, he’s scored goals and is playing ever so well. Ryan is eager and I’m eager to get his future sorted out sooner rather than later but at the moment everything is fine.”
Mass exodus?
There is no debating that Beale wants to reshape and mould this ageing Gers squad to his needs, but whether Jack is in this long-term vision is still debatable.
Alongside the likes of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos, who also see their contracts expire in the summer, the midfielder’s future at Ibrox is up in the air.
If it was determined on performances since Beale’s arrival, Jack definitely deserves a spot at the Glasgow club next season following a string of strong performances that have helped sustain the new manager’s unbeaten record.
However, at 30, the Gers will know that giving him a new deal would only add to their wage bill and could keep him at the club during a time in which his performances may decrease dramatically.
The likes of new signing Todd Cantwell and the heavily rumoured Nicolas Raskin suggest Beale is looking toward youth to get Rangers back to the top of Scottish football, a vision which could impact Jack’s future.
In other Rangers news, a long-awaited return for one forgotten Bears ace has left the manager delighted ahead of St Johnstone.