Rangers Prepare for Raskin Departure as Besiktas Shows Interest

Rangers are braced for a late shake of the transfer window, with Nicolas Raskin now at the centre of a developing tug-of-war and time ticking loudly in Glasgow and Istanbul.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Ibrox club have reached a verbal agreement in principle with Besiktas over the sale of the Belgian midfielder. The Turkish window stays open until Friday, long after most of Europe has shut up shop, and that lingering gap may yet prise one of Rangers’ most valuable assets out of the door.

For now, the move rests with the player. Raskin must decide whether Istanbul is the right next step. Talks are active, all sides searching for a clean resolution before the shutters finally come down.

A squad in flux, a season already under strain

Rangers do not approach this situation from a position of comfort. Derek McInnes’ side have taken just four points from their first three Scottish Premiership matches, already chasing Celtic and the rest of the pack at a stage of the season when they expected to be setting the pace, not scrambling after it.

The clock only heightens the tension. The Scottish deadline hits at 5pm on Thursday, and McInnes still wants more reinforcements to stiffen a squad that has stuttered out of the blocks. At the same time, he must guard against losing key figures to leagues still open for business.

Turkey is one of those markets. Besiktas, sensing opportunity, have moved to test Rangers’ resolve on Raskin just as the domestic pressure intensifies.

From key man to onlooker

The shift in Raskin’s status has been sharp. Last season he was a fixture, racking up 50 appearances in all competitions and driving the midfield with the intensity that quickly endeared him to the Ibrox crowd.

This season, he has watched on twice from the outside. Left out of the squad for two of Rangers’ three league games, he has become a symbol of uncertainty rather than stability, his omission tied directly to the noise around his future.

The expectation inside and outside the club was that the 25‑year‑old would move on this summer. His performances for Belgium at the World Cup only strengthened the belief that a bigger European league would come calling. The calls never truly arrived. The main window across the continent closed without a serious bid materialising.

So the situation drifted. Raskin stayed, trained, waited. Now Besiktas have stepped into the silence.

McInnes’ balancing act

Through it all, McInnes has been careful to defend the midfielder’s professionalism, while quietly preparing for life with or without him.

“Nico's been first-class since he came back from the World Cup – he's been good as gold, he's trained brilliantly,” the Rangers manager said recently, underlining the player’s attitude amid constant speculation.

There has been “a lot of chat” and “a lot of conversations” with potential buyers, McInnes admitted, but his message to Raskin has been simple: until an offer lands that the club must take seriously, the midfielder’s job is to train and be ready.

McInnes has no doubts about what happens if the deal collapses and the window shuts with Raskin still in Glasgow. In his eyes, the Belgian would simply resume service, exactly as before, and continue to justify the interest he now attracts.

He wants good players. Raskin is one of them. The problem for Rangers is that other clubs have finally remembered that too.

Replace or trust what’s already there?

If Besiktas and Raskin do shake hands, Rangers face another decision: act again in the market or trust the work already done.

The club have not been idle in midfield. Cammy Devlin, Dan Neil and Vanja Dragojevic have all arrived this summer, each signed with a view to reshaping the core of the team. On paper, McInnes has numbers and variety in the centre of the park.

But Raskin is not just another name on a depth chart. He has been a reference point, a player around whom others adjust. Losing that profile days into a season that has already started awkwardly poses a clear risk.

Do Rangers cash in, bank the fee, and lean fully into the new midfield? Or, with Celtic already edging ahead, do they fight to keep every ounce of proven quality they can?

The answer may not come from Glasgow at all. It may come from a 25‑year‑old midfielder weighing up whether the next chapter of his career is written under the lights of Ibrox, or in the noise of Istanbul.