The Ibrox boss confirmed Scotland stopper Souttar is locked in talks over new deal

20:07, 10 Dec 2025Updated 21:10, 10 Dec 2025

Danny Rohl wants Rangers defender John Souttar to sign a new deal and be part of his future Ibrox leadership group.

Record Sport exclusively revealed on Tuesday that Gers are in talks with the 29-year-old about extending his stay in Govan. Souttar is out of contract next summer but Rohl is keen to get the Scotland centre-back tied down.

The Rangers gaffer believes he can have a key role at the club for the next few years and has been impressed with his qualities on and off the pitch. He hopes negotiations with Souttar and his representatives will end positively as he waits on the defender to return from injury.

Rohl said: “The good thing about being a head coach is that you have a lot of people around who can sort the contract situations.

“Since I have been here, John has been one of the core members of the team. He has helped us.

“He has experience in this league, he knows what it means to play on a Tuesday or Wednesday night at Kilmarnock, places like that. This is important because he knows what it means to play for Rangers.

“We need a core group and we need leaders who have experience. You can then build young players around them.

“The full group is important so let’s see what direction it goes. There has been a clear signal from our side.

“Hopefully John will be back soon because we know the situation with our centre backs at the moment.”

Rohl has major injury and suspension issues ahead of Thursday’s must-win Europa League clash against Ferencvaros in Budapest.

Souttar and Derek Cornelius are long-term absentees, while Mohamed Diomande is banned.

Joe Rothwell didn’t travel to Hungary, while there are doubts over Lyall Cameron’s fitness too.

Rangers’ Nedim Bajrami

And Rohl revealed that Nedim Bajrami – who picked up a hamstring strain at Rugby Park on Saturday night – is also facing a spell on the sidelines after a scan.

The good news for the German is that Dujon Sterling will get minutes against Robbie Keane’s side and defender Nasser Djiga will be available for the Euro tie – and Monday night’s Premiership game with Hibs – before he leaves for AFCON duty with Burkina Faso.

The Gers boss said: “Joe is not with us, Lyall is with us but there’s a big question mark over him – we have to do an assessment on him.

“And Nedim is not too good for us, which is hard. We thought after the game it wasn’t too serious but it now looks more serious.

“It looks like a muscle injury for Nedim. He didn’t feel so bad but the scan wasn’t positive so now we have to wait and check it one more time. It will then be week by week but hopefully it won’t be long.

“At the moment, we have some more injuries which aren’t helpful but we still have a good squad together.

“It’s important to manage some people at the moment and it’s our job to find the right players for this game.

“We have a challenge ahead of us. We want to get a good result here but we need to do everything right.”