OLDHAM Athletic remain determined to hold on to prize asset George Edmundson.

The towering defender is a man in demand with Rangers making the biggest play for his services.

Steven Gerrard’s side have reportedly upped their offer to £600,000 but the Latics are believed to want more like £1 million for the 21-year-old.

The centre half has a year remaining on his contract and is also being courted by a number of clubs higher up the pyramid in England.

Edmundson came of age last season, making 54 appearances in all competitions and scoring two goals.

He was a key figure as Latics flirted with a play-off push before finishing 14th in League Two, owner Abdallah Lemsagam now battling hard to keep hold of his rising star.

In the recent vision he set out for the club Lemsagam underlined how he felt Oldham had not got full value for their players in recent years, something he wanted to change. 

“The club has allowed the value of the squad to decline significantly,” he said.

“Players have been sold through uncompetitive deals, contracts have been short, and the value of the squad has been repeatedly depleted.”

As well as fighting off interest in Edmundson, Lemsagam is also in the process of appointing a new head coach, one he is keen will work with an increased scouting network and the Boundary Park club’s academy.

Latics went through three managers last season, Pete Wild having two separate caretaker spells after the departures of Frankie Bunn and Paul Scholes, the Manchester United legend’s reign lasting just 31 days.

“These things take time,” the owner said.

“It’s very, very delicate because we don’t want to make a mistake.

“We’re taking our time. We’ve been meeting three, four, five coaches and we want to make the right decision for the club.”

Lemsagam has stopped short of guaranteeing the new man will be a long-term appointment saying “results speak for themselves”.