Defoe is believed to be winding down his playing career and wants another season at Rangers to play in front of the club's fans; the former England international's deal expires at the end of May; he has featured in 11 Scottish Premiership games during Rangers' title-winning season
Thursday 6 May 2021 17:52, UK
Jermain Defoe wants to play for Scottish Premiership champions Rangers for one more season.
It is thought the 38-year-old wishes to have the opportunity to play in front of fans at Ibrox before he finishes playing for the club.
Earlier this week, Rangers manager Steven Gerrard said the club are in talks with Defoe over his future. The former England striker wants to focus on the rest of this season before he assesses all of his options.
"It goes without saying that Jermain Defoe is someone I have the ultimate respect and admiration for," Gerrard said.
"He's been a wonderful player. He's had a wonderful career. To get him up here in the first place was something I was keen to do, because I knew he would help the group in the way he goes about his business. He's a top professional.
"We're in talks with Jermain at the moment about what's next for Jermain. But we want to be really respectful, we want to give him the time to make his own decisions."
The former West Ham, Portsmouth, Tottenham, and Sunderland striker, who is the ninth-highest goalscorer in Premier League history, is currently under contract at Rangers until the end of May.
Defoe joined Rangers on a permanent one-year deal last summer after spending an initial 18 months with the Glasgow side on loan from Bournemouth. He has scored 31 goals in 70 games in all competitions for the club to date.
He scored Rangers' final goal in the recent 4-1 victory over Celtic which was his sixth in all competitions so far this season.
Recently, Defoe has also opened up on his desire to move into coaching as he winds down his playing career.
Rangers, who won the Scottish Premiership for the first time in a decade after storming to the title, face Livingston and Aberdeen in their final two league games.
