Nicolas Raskin wants to sign for Ligue 1 club despite strong Rangers interest in January
Rangers are set to lose out in the race for Nicolas Raskin after he made it clear he wants to sign for a club in France this January, say Glasgow Times.
The Gers have long been linked with a move for the Belgium Under-21 midfielder, and it was believed that a deal was edging closer for him to join Ibrox.
But a fresh report claims that the Standard Liege man is a target for both Marseille and Toulouse and he prefers to move to Ligue 1 over Scotland, meaning Rangers will miss out on getting a deal done.
“Rangers target Nicolas Raskin looks set to disappoint his Ibrox suitors by moving to France with Marseille and Toulouse leading the chase,” they wrote (28 December).
“The Standard Liege midfielder has been dumped into the reserves at former Celtic manager Ronny Deila’s club after refusing to sign a new deal in Belgium.
“Rangers were credited with a serious interest in the Belgian Under 21s star both in the summer and when the transfer window reopens next week.
“But he appears to have made it clear he wants to play in Ligue 1 and will move to a French club.”
Ouch
Rangers need plenty of deals to be done over the next two transfer windows, but they must start well in January and Raskin seemed like a relatively easy deal to do.
The player was keen, the fee was reasonable and the timing worked out. But with Michael Beale coming in as a manager at Ibrox and the decision being his, it seems likely it wasn’t a deal he was too keen on.
With Steven Davis out injured for the rest of the season and potentially seeing his career ended, a new midfielder has surely become a priority in January now though.
Whoever it is that comes in, they need to be ready to step into the first-team immediately and make an impact, and the hope is that the club will be able to deliver on that to help try and close the gap on Celtic.
If Raskin was a genuine target then it’s one that the club have seemingly missed out on now, so they must pivot and move on to the next quickly to ensure they do not fall even further behind in the process.
In other Rangers news, senior duo to be axed as key players to return v Motherwell in predicted XI