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Josh Jones has insisted that he never had any intention of leaving Salford after signing a new two-year deal with the club.
Jones, a former Grand Final winner at St Helens, was one of four new players to extend their deals at the AJ Bell Stadium last week.
The 23-year-old was set to be one of the hottest properties on the transfer market as of today (Monday), as players who are out-of-contract at the end of the season are now free to speak to other clubs.
However, the 23-year-old insists that he never had any plans to consider offers from other clubs, and is thrilled to have signed a new contract to stay at Salford.
“There’s no reason for me to want to leave,” he said.
“Why would I want to? There’s a really great feel about the place and I’m more than happy to extend my contract.
“I didn’t want to go to the open market and see what was happening. I wanted stability and to be at a club that is on the rise. We’re a winning team, we have good coaches, so I’d be daft to not want to stay.”
Jones joined the club at the start of the 2016 season, when the Red Devils were still considered to be unstable.
However, he is adamant that he would have never joined the club if Ian Watson and Marwan Koukash had not convinced him that their current position was realistic.
“I know the last few years haven’t been the best,” he said.
“There’s no secret that the club was going through a bad period, but now we’ve been able to sign the right group of players and on the back of the new boys signing it’s the best thing for me to stay.
“I wouldn’t have signed here in the first place if I didn’t think we could get to this position. I think we have great players across the board and with everyone deciding to re-commit as well to build something we can become a really strong force.
“I think we’ve got a good culture with the right players. There are no prima donnas, just people working hard and we work off the back of that. There’s a great spirit and you can see that on the pitch.”
Having committed himself to the club, Jones is now targeting silverware to make 2017 a defining chapter for both himself and the club.
“There’s no reason why we can’t have a good Cup run and win something,” he said.
“We have the squad and character for it, it’s about whether we want it or not.
“Marwan’s goal was to make us into a top four club. After a few up and downs he’s getting there, and now we need to keep being strong and move towards the play-offs.”
Meanwhile, the club has secured the services of Lee Mossop for the next three seasons after he signed a new contract.
The former Wigan forward has now joined Jake Bibby and Josh Wood in committing to the club after the young duo also signed new contracts last week.
