Rangers are reportedly braced to receive Premier League offers for an unsettled star player before the summer transfer window closes.
Rangers are reportedly braced to receive Premier League offers for star midfielder Nicolas Raskin before the summer transfer window closes.
Head coach Russel Martin recently has admitted that the 24-year-old was unsettled by approaches made for his services earlier this summer, but he has praised the Belgian’s “incredible” reaction to being left out of the team last week.
Raskin was dropped for Rangers’ 3-0 first-leg win over Viktoria Plzen in Champions League third-round qualifying following an uninspiring display in a 1-1 draw with Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.
However, Raskin played the full 90 minutes on Tuesday night when Rangers lost 2-1 to Viktoria Plzen in the second leg of their Champions League tie, progressing to the playoff round on aggregate.
“What Nico did last season, rightly or wrongly, I can’t have a feeling about,” Martin told reporters earlier this week. “He came out of the team for reasons that me and him spoke about, and his reaction has been top, like really, really brilliant – that’s all you can ever ask for.
“There’s been a bit of uncertainty about him this summer, for sure. Not from people ringing us, but I think from people ringing him, definitely, so I think that’s affected his approach.
“Not in terms of professionalism, but he’s a young man, of course it’s going to have an impact at some point, and then we’ve had a discussion and since he came out of the team, he’s been a different guy. Incredible.”
Raskin has two years remaining on his contract at Ibrox and Rangers are keen to keep hold of him this summer, with Martin adding: “Hopefully we can get to the end of the window, he’s played brilliantly, the window shuts, he’s still here, and then we can keep improving and keep kicking on.”
Rangers prepared to receive PL offers for Raskin before transfer deadline
However, according to Football Insider, the Gers are bracing themselves to receive offers for Raskin late in the transfer window amid interest from a number of Premier League clubs.
Newly-promoted Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers are two English top-flight teams who have been credited with an interest in Raskin, who is believed to be valued by Rangers at around £20m.
It is understood that Rangers would find it difficult to turn down ‘huge’ offers that meet their asking price for Raskin and are aware that they could make significant profit on a player they signed for just £1.3m from Standard Liege in January 2023.
Football Insider reporter Peter O’Rouke claims that Rangers will boost their chances of keeping Raskin if they can qualify for the League Phase of the Champions League, as the midfielder “want to continue playing at the highest level possible.”
Rangers will face Belgian outfit Club Brugge over two legs in the Champions League playoff round, with the first leg at Ibrox to be played next Tuesday and the reverse fixture to take place eight days later.
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