An update has emerged on Glasgow Rangers and their pursuit of a new central midfielder in the summer transfer window…
What’s the talk?
The 4th official has revealed that the Light Blues are in ongoing negotiations to sign Nicolas Raskin before Thursday’s deadline.
This comes after they previously claimed that the player is valued at €5.5m (£4.7m) by his current club and that the Gers will look to lower that fee.
They Tweeted: “Nicolas Raskin talks going on with Rangers expecting Standard Liege to lower expectations given the dynamics in play.”
Ryan Jack upgrade
Ross Wilson could now land Gio van Bronckhorst an upgrade on Ryan Jack by securing a deal to sign Raskin in the coming days.
Availability is a player’s most important quality. Quite simply, if a player cannot get on the pitch on a regular basis then their quality is irrelevant because they are unable to use it week-in-week-out.
This is particularly relevant with Jack because he has only played 31 Premiership matches since the start of the 2020/21 campaign and has not featured in 20 or more league games since 2018/19, having suffered with multiple injury blows.
Raskin, meanwhile, has played 66 Pro League matches in the same time and this suggests that he would be more reliable in terms of being available for matches. You cannot account for freak injuries but their respective statistics indicate that he has a greater chance of avoiding knocks.
Jack does have quality, however, and was an important figure in the Europa League last term as he started nine of their matches in the competition and averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.92 – ranking ninth in the squad.
The midfielder made 3.2 tackles and interceptions per game and completed 84% of his passes, showing his calmness on the ball and his work rate off it. Although, he struggled to create much as he averaged just 0.6 key passes per appearance.
Raskin, who journalist Josh Bunting dubbed “confident” and a “playmaker“, also has quality and has shown great promise in Belgium. He has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.02 in the Pro League this season, making 2.6 tackles and interceptions per game and completing 81% of his passes whilst creating 1.4 chances per outing.
This comes after he made 3.3 tackles and interceptions and 0.8 key passes per match in the 2021/22 campaign for the Belgian side.
These statistics suggest that he could offer a similar defensive contribution to Jack whilst providing more creativity for his teammates on a regular basis.
At the age of 21, he is nine years younger than Jack and could come in as an upgrade on him now and then become the long-term heir to his place in the squad. He is a young player with the potential to improve and van Bronckhorst could develop him in the years to come.
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