Keith Lasley has urged highly-rated team-mates Nicky Law and Chris Humphrey to ignore any link with Rangers – and concentrate on playing in Europe next season with Motherwell.
Ibrox manager Ally McCoist is reportedly preparing to offer both Law and Humph pre-contract deals to join his side this summer.
Midfield ace Law's stock is at an all-time high after his display in Well's 2-1 victory against Celtic last midweek, while Coisty has long been an admirer of Jamaican winger Humph.
But Steelmen skipper Las has told the duo, who are both out of contract at Well at the end of the term, that they must weight up missing out on Europa League football next term if Well qualify with playing for the Ibrox outfit in a lower league.
He said: "The way Nicky, Chris and one or two of our other players have been performing, it is not a surprise that speculation has started to mount over their futures.
"But a move to a club in Rangers' position is something they would have to weigh up very carefully. They are a massive club but right now we don't know what league they will be playing in next season.
"The only league they will not be playing in, most likely, is the top flight. What Nicky and Chris have at Motherwell is a real chance of European football next season.
"They are playing every week at the top level in Scotland and their football is plainly benefiting from that.
"There is no way we want them to leave Motherwell. They are two huge players for us, two great lads and a key part of our dressing room."
Gaffer Stuart McCall will not be handed his budget for next season until Well have nailed down a top-six place, with a win at Aberdeen on Saturday along with other results securing that.
Las said: "I think it is vital we get players signed up as soon as we can.
"If we can get a win at Aberdeen, that will go along way to allowing the gaffer to do that. So the onus is on us as a group of players, if we want this squad to stay together, we know what we have to do."
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article