John Souttar believes Rangers are entering an "exciting time" after he signed a new contract at the club.
The 29-year-old, who was out of contract in the summer, has put pen to paper on a deal until May 2027, with the Ibrox outfit holding the option of a further 12 months.
He has committed his future to the club amid a tense Scottish Premiership title race, with Rangers second in the league, two points behind leaders Hearts and one ahead of Celtic, who have a game in hand.
Off the pitch, a new US ownership group led by chairman Andrew Cavenagh, supported by the 49ers Enterprises, took over in the summer and Souttar feels that stability is helping the club push for their first title in five years.
"Talks have been going on for a long time," he told Your Site. "I think there have been a lot of transitions with new owners, two sporting directors and different ideas, It has been quite unique in that sense.
"There's not that much change usually when you're doing your contract, but thankfully the club's settled now and we've got it sorted.
"The club wanted me to stay and I wanted to stay, so I was always confident it would get sorted. These things take time and there's so many moving parts and so many things changed.
"I've always been concentrating on the team, to be honest. It's been in the back of my mind, but I've always been fully focused on the games.
"There's been so much change. I think the club's going into an exciting time. I think everyone can feel it with the ownership, the management team. It's an exciting place to be just now, and I'm glad that my future is going to be here.
"I think everyone in the building can feel it. I think the outside can start to feel it. I think the ownership has big plans for the club, which is exciting, and it gives that stability as well.
"I think that in my time here, there's been a lot of change and a lot of instability off the pitch, which always makes it difficult for on the pitch to work but I think the owners have come in and given real stability and they've got real plans for the club. That helps everything. It settles everyone down.
"Obviously, the manager coming in and providing that stability as well has allowed the boys to go and play."
Defender Souttar started his career at Dundee United before a move to Hearts. He then joined Rangers from the Tynecastle Park club in 2022 after signing a pre-contract.
He has gone on to make 127 appearances for the Ibrox club, and also earned 21 caps for Scotland.
Souttar's only silverware at Ibrox was winning the League Cup in 2023/24 and he hopes to add to that this season.
"That's why you come here," he added. "That's the demands when you're here - to win trophies. That's something that I'm striving for, it is what I want to do, it is what everyone in the club wants to do.
"We're on the right path, we're a lot closer to that than we were in previous times. It's an exciting place to be just now, but it's important that we keep taking it step by step, game by game, and see where it gets at the end of the season."
Souttar says he has a "good relationship" with boss Danny Röhl, and the defender's new contract will please the German head coach.
While his focus will be on the Scottish Premiership title race, he will also be planning for next season.
Out of Rangers' nine defenders, only Dujon Sterling, Tuur Rommens and Emmanuel Fernandez were guaranteed to be at Ibrox next season. Souttar now joins that list.
Captain James Tavernier will be out of contract in the summer, while Max Aarons, Nasser Djiga, Jayden Meghoma and Derek Cornelius will see their loan deals expire - although the club could exercise an option to buy on the latter.
Speaking after Souttar put pen to paper, Röhl said: "We are delighted John has agreed this new contract with the club.
"Keeping our best players and our leaders is very important to having success going forward, while having a Scottish presence in the squad is also going to be key.
"This is great news for everyone at the club with so much to look forward to between now and the end of the season, and hopefully for John, a World Cup to come at the end of it."
