Nicolas Raskin's Journey at Rangers: From Sidelines to Impact

Nicolas Raskin is enjoying his football at Rangers. What comes next is anyone’s guess.

The Belgian midfielder, 25, has played his way back to the heart of the side, starting the last seven matches and capping that run with his first goal of the season in the 2-2 draw at Dundee. For a player who spent part of the summer watching from the sidelines amid transfer noise, that matters.

“The hardest was not being able to play,” he admitted, reflecting on a window in which links with a move away coincided with him being left out of some games. For someone wired to compete, that cut deeper than the rumours themselves. “Watching the boys playing, this is probably the hardest bit I've been through during the window.”

Raskin arrived at Ibrox in January 2023 and has already racked up more than 150 club appearances in his career and 22 senior caps for Belgium. Rangers have been his launchpad to the national team, and he knows it.

“This club helped me join the Belgian national team, which is a big, big thing,” he said. “I've never been pushing for something because I'm really happy here. It's a big club.”

Ambition still burns, though. He is honest about that. “When you're an ambitious player, you want to keep going higher and higher and higher. I thought there was a point where maybe I could try and go and get for a new challenge after the World Cup.”

That moment never came. Instead, a new manager arrived, and with him, a reset. Raskin talks about that relationship with clear respect. “The manager's been amazing with me since he arrived,” he said, stressing that he feels no need to agitate for change. “I'm really calm with that. I don't need to push anything.”

For now, his focus is simple: keep his place, keep winning, let January take care of itself.

“We've got loads of time before January. We try to make the best of it, try to win as many games as we can and I don't know what's going to happen.”

The same uncertainty hangs over his contract situation, which runs until the end of next season. Asked about the prospect of extending, Raskin did not pretend to hold the pen.

“I don't know, it's not up to me. It's up to the club.”

Rangers have a midfielder who is happy, influential, and still hungry. The question is how long they want that picture to stay exactly as it is.