Rangers have reportedly held off interest from the likes of Barcelona, Napoli and Marseille as they close in on Standard Liege midfielder Nicolas Raskin.
The latest reports suggest that the Ibrox side are going to secure the Deadline Day signing of the Belgian U21 international in a major coup for the club given the kind of sides who’ve been linked to the player.
Out-of-contract in the summer, Rangers are reportedly set to stump up around £1.75m (€2m) for Nicolas Raskin with reports mentioning a sell-on clause.
But that could prove a small price to pay for the 21-year-old who has been linked to some of the biggest and best teams in European football as his contract ticks down with Standard Liege.
Rangers to hold off Barcelona links in Nicolas Raskin hunt
Just before Christmas, reports emerged regarding Barcelona interest in Nicolas Raskin, with Spanish reports claiming the La Liga leaders had watched the midfielder.
Legendary Spanish World Cup-winning midfielder Xavi is at the helm of the Catalan giants and it speaks volumes that Barcelona were being mentioned.
Napoli – who were recently mentioned as potential transfer rivals only this week – were also linked to Nicolas Raskin at the beginning of January.
As we reported, the fresh Napoli interest appeared to reference these initial links which had claimed Rangers’ Champions League rivals would consider a deal if one of their own players left the club.
Then there was Marseille, who’d been linked alongside Toulouse as potential Ligue 1 destinations for the player heading into the January window.
Links to the French giants went cold when Marseille signed Ukraine midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi on loan from Atalanta, with Nicolas Raskin perhaps viewed as an alternative option.
The competition for the likes of Nicolas Raskin doesn’t begin and end with Barcelona either; Belgian champions Club Brugge were also mentioned whilst there were fears of Benfica resurrecting reported interest amid Chelsea links to Enzo Fernandez.
Whatever the case, it appears Rangers are about to pull off something of a major coup with the signing of Nicolas Raskin and fans will hope the deal edges to its conclusion before the window slams shut.
Michael Beale has hinted the Belgian won’t be the only Deadline Day signing either.