GOLD Coast is leaving no stone unturned in its pursuit to retain young star Izak Rankine, with the club's leadership group pitching its case to the "special" small forward.

Interest in the out-of-contract 22-year-old hit fever pitch last week with Adelaide making a lucrative financial offer to lure Rankine back to his home state.

Gold Coast co-captain Touk Miller said on Monday the Suns' leaders had re-inforced to Rankine what he meant to the club.

BIG INCENTIVES Rankine to weigh up next move

"I know there's a lot of speculation around him and his future, but for us we really want him to be at this club. He's a special person, special player," Miller said.

"We've gone to him and had a few chats about how much he means to us and means to the club, so whether that plays a part in the decision, hopefully it does.

"As a leadership group, that's part of what you have to do.

"This club wants success, and he can be a key part of that."

Gold Coast is no stranger to dealing with speculation around out-of-contract players, and Miller said the past week had been tricky, especially on Rankine.

However, the Suns' co-captain said they were doing everything to keep it as normal as possible.

TRADE HUB All the latest player movement news

"I know speculation like that can make it really hard around the club and can make things awkward and nervous, but we want him to feel as comfortable as possible, feel like he can still be himself and play his best footy.

"He's human.

"I can say it's not easy for him and you probably do have your head down a bit more.

"In saying that, we still got a lot of good things out of him game day.

"I'm not in his head, I can't exactly say what he's going to do, but we really want him to stay.

"He's such a special part and key part to our club going forward. We'd love to have him."