GRAEME Murty, the Rangers caretaker manager, has appealed to the Ibrox officials conducting contract talks with Ross McCrorie, the teenage centre half, to complete the negotiations swiftly.
Murty was effusive in his praise of McCrorie following a 2-1 win over Ross County at Ibrox on Saturday that ensured his side reclaimed second place in the Ladbrokes Premiership table from Aberdeen.
The 19-year-old is tied up until the summer of 2019, but the Glasgow club are keen to secure his services for longer and are in discussions with the player over a possible four year extension.
Read more: The sky is the limit for Ross McCrorie at Rangers - thanks to Ibrox caretaker manager Graeme Murty
The Scotland Under-21 defender’s manager is optimistic he will agree to remain at Rangers for the foreseeable future and is hopeful an agreement will be reached quickly.
“That is being discussed behind the scenes,” said Murty. “But he appears happy, he appears settled and I don’t think there are many things he would want to walk away from this football club for.
“I think it would be for the benefit of all for those discussions to be brought to a close.”
Meanwhile, Murty has revealed how Rangers academy staff were gobsmacked when former manager Pedro Caixinha predicted that McCrorie would become an all-time Scotland great.
“The last thing we want to do is put pressure on the young man,” he said. “But he has accepted it. He knows how highly we rate him, and I think he knows what the fans think about him as well. He embraces the challenge.
Read more: Rangers left furious with Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes after Ibrox U-turn
“To play for Rangers, you have to be of the mindset that people are going to be judging you all the time and you have to embrace that and step up to the challenge. He has done that, to all the challenge, really well.”
Murty also told how McCrorie had asked to be taken off during the match against Ross County after suffering a foot injury.
“He was gutted to come over and admit he couldn’t continue,” he said. “That takes a deal of maturity as well from a young man, to be able to come over and say: ‘I need to come off because I am harming the team’.
“His words to me were ‘you are playing with a man down if you leave me on’. So fair play to him. It is on the bottom of his foot. Touch wood, I hope [he will be ready for Wednesday]. The physios will assess him on Monday and see how he goes.”
Read more: The sky is the limit for Ross McCrorie at Rangers - thanks to Ibrox caretaker manager Graeme Murty
Elsewhere, Murty, who is in temporary charge of the first team until a full-time replacement for Caixinha can be found, confirmed he has been involved in discussions with Mark Allen, the director of football, about the kind of players Rangers need to target in the January transfer window.
“We are speaking about attributes that we believe the squad needs,” he said. “What does it mean to play for Rangers? What do they need to have technically, tactically, but also psychologically to go and play in front of 50,000 people who demand a high level of performance week in, week out. We are having that discussion all the time.”
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