Standard Liege are set to leave Rangers target Nicolas Raskin in limbo for six months – unless the Ibrox men meet their asking price.
MailSport understands Gers’ second bid of around £750,000 for the 21-year-old midfielder has been rejected by the Belgian side. That followed a £500,000 offer for Raskin, who has six months left on his contract and has been bombed from Standard’s squad after refusing to sign a new deal.
But Standard are still determined to bank £1million for him and are willing to hold out until Rangers stump up. At the start of this season, they valued Raskin at £7m as they hoped to tie him down on a long-term deal and now they don’t want to budge on their seven-figure asking price. With just two days left in the transfer window, they’re now preparing themselves for a third Ibrox bid. Standard – managed by ex-Celtic gaffer Ronny Deila –are in a similar position with Moroccan star Selim Amallah. And like Raskin, they are refusing to let him leave in January unless Spanish outfit Real Valladolid splash out £1.75m for him.
Michael Beale hinted he remains hopeful of getting deals done for Raskin and Swansea City wide man Morgan Whittaker. Beale insists they won’t rush into anything just now but admitted he wants a new goalkeeper, centre-back, midfielder and striker in the summer. After his side’s 2-0 win over 10-man St Johnstone yesterday, Beale said: “What I can say about the bids that have been mentioned (for Raskin and Whittaker), those prices are way higher on one and lower on the other. I’ll let you surmise which one it is.
“They’re good players and the clubs they play for don’t want them to go in January. I think there will be a couple of things in the next 48 hours one way or another. Can I guarantee we’ll have new arrivals? No. Will we try our best? Definitely. If we don’t get the work done now, we’ll do more in the summer. It has to be the right players. I hope people think Todd Cantwell is the right fit after his debut today.
“I’d like to add another midfielder to the squad who is powerful and can run. I’d like to add another centre-half and I’ll probably need to look at the goalie situation in the summer. We’ll be looking for another number nine. Nobody wants to strengthen this squad more than the board, Ross and myself.
“It’s in our interest to build a stronger Rangers than we have right now.”
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