Standard Liege reject official bid from Rangers for Nicolas Raskin
Rangers have had a formal transfer bid for midfielder Nicolas Raskin rejected by Standard Liege, according to a report by The Sun.
The Gers have been keen to add the Belgian to their squad this month after agreeing a pre-contract with the player for the summer, with medicals being completed already.
However despite Rangers chiefs flying to Liege to seal a deal to bring him to Ibrox immediately, an initial bid has been rejected with Liege telling them to up their offer to find an agreement.
“Rangers have had a formal transfer bid turned down for Standard Liege midfielder Nicolas Raskin, Sun Sport understands,” they wrote in their live blog (26 January. 13:15).
“It had been claimed that a move to the Ibrox side had all but been agreed after he completed an extensive medical last week, sources say.
“But stories claiming a deal had already been agreed for the Belgian international midfielder are wide of the mark.
“While the value of the offer is not known, SunSport understands that the Ibrox men’s initial approach has been rejected with the Gers told to up their offer in a bid to land a man who has emerged as a key target for Michael Beale.”
Keep pushing
It’s clear that Standard don’t want to sell up for a cut price, but it seems as though some people have gone early after reports that a fee had been agreed between the clubs.
Liege want around £2.2m plus a percentage of any future sale to allow him to leave now, and they don’t seem to be budging despite the fact they will lose him for free in the summer.
Rangers want to pay around £880,000 for his signature now in a cheap deal, which seems fair considering he has already agreed to join in the summer anyway for nothing.
But there is clearly still some negotiating to do between the clubs and Rangers haven’t got their man just yet, despite him being a key target for Michael Beale.
The board must keep pushing though to get this over the line as Beale needs to be backed to the fullest extent in order to push Celtic all the way and stamp his authority on the squad, even if that means paying a bit more than they initially wanted to.
In other Rangers news, the club are braced for a bid from one European club for a star man before next week’s deadline.