OUR number six is staying.

That was the message on Wednesday morning which sent me into a spin. News hadn’t broken yet but it wasn’t long before the formal announcement came. I had given up all hope of this happening, I thought if he hadn’t signed by now then we had no chance.

Rumours were quiet and there was zero chat of any announcement, a social media post from a lady aside. An apparent story of a meeting at Ibrox for Connor Goldson was the only glimpse of potential hope, but nothing to verify that was actually said.

It’s a tight vault at Ibrox these days, exactly the way it should be. Nothing gets out which means the social media announcement hit the spot. Hearts sank then filled with excitement as they scrolled down, ‘thanks for the last four years, here’s to the next four’ was the gist! Yessssss!

I’m on record and will remain there, Goldson is the rock this whole team is built around. He has his flaws and he makes mistakes, show me a centre half who is as consistent as he is for the value and availability he provides, however. They are few and far between, just look at Harry McGuire and £80m spent for Man Utd. Money doesn’t buy you flawlessly classy footballers, for £3.5m Goldson has given us above and beyond value for money.

READ MORE: Connor Goldson gives reason for Rangers stay as he eyes Champions League and reclaiming league title

He gets it, he understands and he’s a leader in that dressing room. Add that to Steven Davis renewing, which even at his age, this is a good week and is a shrewd move by the club. He proved he still has it when he controlled the semi-final at Hampden and helped turnaround an Old Firm defeat into an afternoon to remember.

He’s not a weekly starter but, as we may need four or five starters to come in, Davis is experienced and tried and tested so to speak, keeping him is sensible. Plus, he is a Rolls-Royce footballer, genuine footballing royalty material.

Then the departure of Cedric Itten for a reported £1.5m is, again, decent from Rangers. I liked Itten, he played his part and scored big goals to take us to that title. At just around £2.2m spent we have made a loss but after a poor loan and six months hampered by illness, the club have done ok here in my humble opinion. In fact, Ced played his part hugely in 55, the comeback against Motherwell in December was iconic in that run. He leaves with no hard feelings. He even slayed the current European Champions.

So yes, I’ve been critical of Ross Wilson. The contract situation worries me with Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo but the Goldson news gives me hope for them all. He has big work to do, Contract renewals, dead wood to shift and signings to be made mean the big work has still to be done but this is a tidy start for Rangers even if it was some what of a no brainer.

READ MORE: Inside Rangers' stunning Connor Goldson contract coup and why he remained at Ibrox

It’s a big summer ahead, but Goldson staying is now a solid foundation to build around. Calvin Bassey, Goldson, John Souttar and James Tavernier, that’s a solid exciting central defence and cost about £4m to construct it. But it’s reliable and exciting, Bassey showed world-class form in that closing few months, his potential is mouth-watering. Goldson staying will be huge for him also. Then Captain Tav, ever-dependable and exciting for numbers, a solid Souttar who will be superb if we can keep him fit, the Scottish Cup final showed that.

Chuck in a settled midfield with Davis, Ryan Jack, John Lundstram, James Sands and Glen Kamara, all solid and defensively capable, we are very well set.

This is a base I enjoy, a base on paper that excites me. Now time to add to that with exciting attacking options and take this squad forward, we need goals and numbers added. That’s the challenge, that’s the excitement.

But it’s started well, the rock that everything is built around is here to stay and I’ll end it with the words he said in the tunnel pre Leipzig at Ibrox, “I don’t care who they are, what their name is, what they’re worth. They haven’t got a team like us. Come on, no respect. Lets go!”