New Glasgow Rangers manager Michael Beale faces a massive challenge in order to spark the Ibrox side’s Premiership title challenge back to life.
The Light Blues are nine points adrift of Celtic in the league table and unless there is a miraculous turnaround in fortunes, the trophy will remain with their rivals.
Beale will be familiar with a few faces from his previous time at the club under Steven Gerrard between 2018-2021 and this will be a big advantage going forward.
The 42-year-old will be eying a few signings in January as he aims to assert his own stamp on the team and according to Voetbal Nieuws (via the Daily Record), the club are looking to reignite their interest in midfielder Nicolas Raskin, who has been valued at €5.5m (£4.7m) by Standard Liege.
Making a move for the player could give Beale the licence to ditch Steven Davis, who arguably should have left during the summer.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst gave the 37-year-old a contract extension, however, his performances this season – particularly in the Champions League, having averaged an extremely disappointing Sofascore match rating of just 6.58 – have been poor, to say the least.
Daily Mail journalist Calum McClurkin voiced his criticism of the midfielder by saying he was “over the hill” following a 3-1 defeat to Ajax in the Champions League and Raskin could be an excellent replacement for the ageing club stalwart.
The 21-year-old is more akin to Ryan Jack, embodying similar traits as the Scotsman, most notably being a ball-winner and having ferocious energy.
The way Beale likes his team to play, Raskin would be ideal in the midfield engine room, averaging 3.3 tackles per match, while also creating four big chances this season – proving he can assist the team defensively and going forward.
The Belgian was dubbed a “pitbull” by journalist Bob Faesen back in 2020 not long after he burst onto the scene with Standard Liege and this is the type of personality Beale will be eyeing that can take his Rangers side to the next level.
A new-look Rangers should be all about dictating the play while having a relentless attacking nature and unfortunately, Davis doesn’t quite fit the bill.
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