Doncaster Rovers manager Darren Ferguson says once he knows his player budget for next season the first thing he will do is offer James Coppinger a new deal.
Doncaster’s record appearance maker is out of contract at the end of this season. Ferguson is still waiting to find out from the board what his budget will be for next season.
Coppinger has once again been a regular in the Doncaster side this season and Ferguson wants to keep his talisman at the club.
“Whatever I get, the first thing I will be doing is offering him a new contract,” Ferguson told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“He deserves it. He’s been excellent this season.
“James and I have been in constant communication about this.
“The communication to him from myself has been that, on a footballing basis, I will be offering him a new contract.
“I can’t do that until I know what we’ve got.
“But he’s fully aware that his manager wants him to get a new contract.
“That’s where we are at and that’s as far as we can go with it at the moment.
“But certainly I feel that whatever money I’ve got to play with, the first thing I’m doing is giving him a contract.”
The 37-year-old has been at Doncaster since 2004 and this season he passed 500 appearances for the club, the only player in the clubs history to achieve the feat.
He has made 42 appearances this season and his recent appearance against Blackburn Rovers was his 564th appearance for Doncaster.
Coppinger is amongst a number of players out of contract this summer and Ferguson has already spoken to the squad regarding who he wants to see remain at the Keepmoat Stadium next season.
Andy Williams, Mathieu Baudry, Craig Alcock and Cedric Evina are all out of contract this summer and Ferguson is expected to announce his released and retained list shortly after the final game of the season against Wigan Athletic this weekend.
