Rangers in pole position to sign Nicolas Raskin, pre-contract deal on the cards
Rangers are reportedly in “pole position” to sign Standard Liege midfielder Nicolas Raskin in the January transfer window.
According to the Scottish Daily Mail (20 January, page 74), the 21-year-old is a free agent at the end of the season and he could potentially agree a pre-contract deal.
Standard are ideally looking to sell him this month. He is frozen out at the club since contract extension talks broke down, and he has last played prior to the World Cup break.
French clubs Marseille and Toulouse were credited with an interest to sign him, while Portuguese club Benfica have also monitored his development.
However, the Bears have moved ahead of others in the race as Beale wants to lower the age profile of his squad.
Get it done
The Gers could make a flurry of late signings in the January window and Raskins could be one of them.
He is a talented midfielder but his future appears to lie away from Liege.
The Scottish Sun reported on 19 January that he was involved in a dispute with Les Rouge boss Ron Deila who even banished the Belgian under-21 international from first-team training last month.
His relationship with the manager has completely broken down during contract negotiations, and the player will be allowed to leave this month.
The Gers are also close to securing the signing of Todd Cantwell from Norwich City who has made his way north to have a medical and put the finishing touches to join the Ibrox outfit [Daily Record].
While Rangers can strike a pre-contract deal, the Glasgow giants must look to sign him permanently.
Beale has stressed the need to bolster the first-team squad, with players who can improve the first team rather than becoming squad players.
Definitely, Raskin is someone who can add tremendous quality to the first team, and let’s hope the Bears can get the deal done ahead of others.
In other Rangers news, the Gers are expected to sign this “World Cup star” in January.