ALLAN McGregor insists he never had any intention of quitting Rangers despite being linked with a move to the Barclays Premier League.
The 26-year-old goalkeeper, yesterday put pen to paper on a new five-year deal, which keeps him at Ibrox until 2013.
Chairman Sir David Murray moved quickly to tie McGregor to a longer contract after an excellent season brought speculation about
a possible move south of the border.
Having already paid Rangers £9million for right-back Alan Hutton in January, Tottenham were linked with a summer swoop for McGregor, with Newcastle also reported to be among his admirers.
"I don't know if any of it was true but it's good to get things settled and just get on with pre-season," McGregor told Rangers World.
"I met the chairman a couple of weeks ago and we had a chat about things.
"I think he realised I always wanted to stay at the club, especially after breaking through to the first team. So I'm delighted with the five years.
"I always wanted to stay here. I've been here for the whole of my career, apart from a couple of loan spells, and I think everyone knows this is the club I want to play for."
McGregor joined Rangers ten years ago and established himself as first choice during the short Paul Le Guen era, having had previous loan spells at both St Johnstone and Dunfermline.
He retained the gloves under Walter Smith and went on to enjoy his finest season with Rangers last term, before an ankle injury sustained at Celtic Park in April brought his campaign to a premature and painful end.
He was forced to look on from the sidelines as Rangers claimed the Scottish Cup and narrowly lost out on both the Uefa Cup and Clydesdale Bank Premier League title.
McGregor is now determined to put the set-back firmly behind him and focus on returning to full fitness ahead of the new season. He said: "It was a disappointment but these things happen in football and you just have to get over it.
"Hopefully there will be even more games like that next season.
"Things are going well. I've been in for a few days now and hopefully in the next couple of weeks I should be back in full training."
Neil Alexander proved to be an able deputy in his absence and McGregor admits he now faces a battle to reclaim a regular starting spot.
He added: "At a club like this you are always going to face a challenge.
"I've faced a challenge for ten years and I don't expect that to change for the next five years.
"Neilly did well last season but I will be pushing to get a start."
Rangers play three games in Germany on a pre-season tour in mid-July, before facing crucial Champions League qualifiers at the end of the month.
And McGregor is relishing a quick return to action.
"We had to qualify last year and we did it even though it was pretty hard," he said. "There are some good teams in the draw but we will just get on with it, get our fitness up, and be ready to go again."
Meanwhile, Andy Webster has vowed to repay the faith shown in him by manager Smith as he prepares to kick-start his own Rangers career.
The 26-year-old Scottish international defender signed a permanent three-year deal earlier this month following an injury-ravaged 18-month loan spell from Wigan.
Smith clearly believes a fully-fit Webster – who played under him for Scotland – still has plenty to offer and the centre-half is determined to make the most of the opportunity.
He said: "Getting the new deal shows a lot of faith from the manager and like anything, you want to repay that to him and the club in general.
"The ideal situation was always for me to sign here and get playing, so it has been the one bright spot among the recent injury problems.
"I know I can play first-team football – I've played in the SPL before and it's just a case of being fit, being on top of my game and getting the opportunities.
"I'm just in the early stages of running after having a hernia operation three weeks ago."
• Manchester City will face Celtic in a friendly at Parkhead on 5 August.
Fact BoxTHE first Old Firm derby of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season has been moved back by a day and will now be played on Sunday, 31 August.
Celtic will face Rangers at Parkhead in the match which will be televised by Setanta. Two more matches involving the Glasgow rivals have also been moved for the benefit of TV.
Celtic's game at Dundee United, where they won the title on the last day of last season, switches from 16 August to 17 August, when it will kick off at 2pm, while Rangers' clash at Aberdeen on 23 August is changed from a 3pm kick-off to 12.30pm, and will also be shown by Setanta.
The full article contains 861 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
