Steven Gerrard says Rangers must hold onto their most valuable players in January if they hope to win the title this season

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard insists none of his key first team squad members will be leaving during the January transfer window despite the Ibrox club’s admission they need to start selling players on a more regular basis to improve their financial position.

Glen Kamara's performances for Rangers in the Europa League this season have attracted interest from other clubs but Steven Gerrard insists none of his key players will be sold in the January transfer window. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

At Rangers’ annual general meeting last Tuesday, following the posting of a £15.9 million loss in their yearly accounts to the end of June this year, managing director Stewart Robertson confirmed the club would start to ‘really focus’ on moving on ‘one or two players a year’.

Gerrard is appreciative of his board’s need to enhance their player trading model but is adamant there will be no significant sales until next summer.

Several Rangers players, including Finnish international midfielder Glen Kamara, have attracted attention during the club’s impressive start to the 2020-21 campaign in both the Scottish Premiership and Europa League.

Gerrard is determined that Rangers will reject any offers which come their way next month as he looks to keep his squad intact for the ongoing challenge of winning the domestic title for the first time in a decade and making further progress in Europe with a last 32 tie against Royal Antwerp to come in February.

“None of our big players will be going anywhere in January,” said Gerrard. “I’m well aware of the club’s situation and what we need to do moving forward.

“Of course, I totally understand that at some point we will have to trade someone. I’m not naive enough to think that we won’t have to do that.

“But it’s extremely important that we keep our best players, certainly in the next window and that they are here for the duration of the season. I think the board are aware of that and want that as well. So we are certainly on the same page.

“Moving forward, we are at a club where we need to keep active in terms of recruitment and bringing people in. But that also means that, at the right time, the right player might have to move in a different direction. We are well aware of that.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.