No contact between Rangers and Standard Liege for Nicolas Raskin after medical passed
Rangers have not had any contact with Standard Liege over signing Nicolas Raskin despite following him since August, according to Kevin Sauvage.
After completing a deal for Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell [The 4th Official, 20 January] the Light Blues are chasing the young Belgian midfielder to be their second signing of the January transfer window.
Le Soir in Belgium reported on Friday night (20 January) that a medical in Glasgow has already been passed as the situation on the player’s side appears to be lightyears ahead of the one between the two clubs, who journalist Sauvage says have not been in touch.
Reporting on Twitter the DH les Sports + journalist wrote: “Rangers FC have been following Nicolas Raskin since August, no contact with Standard RSCL yet.”
The 21-year-old’s contract is expiring in the summer and he has been frozen out of the Standard side after extension negotiations broke down, so he is free to speak to the Gers over a summer free transfer.
Final step
Raskin arriving at the end of the season looks to be as good as in the bag but Michael Beale couldn’t help himself praising the youngster when he spoke ahead of the St Johnstone game on Friday [BBC Sport, 20 January].
He will want the under-21 international in his squad as soon as possible as he continues the revival at Ibrox, so a fee will have to be agreed at club level.
Raskin’s exit looks a foregone conclusion, as it was with Cantwell, so the Light Blues will surely not wish to overpay, but as long as the Belgian club aren’t looking to play hardball then a resolution shouldn’t be far away.
Rangers clearly were able to satisfy Norwich’s aims to get the deal done six months early, and if they can follow that up with a similar outcome for Raskin then Beale’s comfort at the situation while the window ticked by will be well founded.
He has already done good work with the players he inherited, with the only blemish a draw snatched from the jaws of victory against Old Firm rivals Celtic on 2 January.
But there have been a number of matches where his players have had to dig a result in improbable late circumstances, so the new signings and some options returning from injury will need to help improve the overall performances.
In other Rangers news, Fabrizio Romano’s update on yet another Gers transfer pursuit has been disputed as “wide of the mark”.