Glasgow Rangers have already decided to make changes to their playing squad at Ibrox after they failed to win the Scottish Premiership title last season.
Philippe Clement's options in the middle of the park have already been altered after John Lundstram and Ryan Jack were allowed to depart Rangers on free transfers upon the expiry of their respective contracts at the end of May.
Scottish whiz Connor Barron has also been snapped up and the Ibrox giants have been linked with a swoop to sign midfielder Kenny McLean.
Rangers have also signed Mohammed Diomande from Danish side Nordsjaelland on a permanent deal after his loan spell at the club last term, but the Gers already have a midfielder whose value has soared beyond what the Ivorian's market value currently is.
How much Rangers paid for Nicolas Raskin
Former Light Blues manager Michael Beale struck gold when he swooped to sign central midfielder Nicolas Raskin from Standard Liege at the start of last year.
The Ibrox giants reportedly splashed out a fee of €1.5m and €500k in add-ons to sign the Belgian starlet, which takes the total cost of the deal to around €2m (£1.7m).
He joined the club midway through the 2022/23 campaign and showcased his calmness on the ball and tenacity out of possession in his first few months in Scotland.
Appearances
12
Goals
0
Assists
1
Pass accuracy
88%
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.3
Duel success rate
52%
As you can see in the table above, Raskin was generally reliable at passing to his teammates in the middle of the park and won the majority of his defensive battles.
Rangers hit the jackpot with Nicolas Raskin
At the time of writing (04/07/2024), the 23-year-old star is valued by Transfermarkt at a whopping €6.5m (£5.5m) and that is a €4.5m increase on the €2m package that they agreed with Standard Liege 18 months ago.
This means that Raskin's value has skyrocketed up by 225% in less than two years with the Premiership side, and he is currently valued at more than recent permanent signing Diomande – whose value stands at €4m (£3.3m).
Only Todd Cantwell – at €8.5m (£7.2m) – is valued higher than the former Belgium U21 international within the Rangers squad, and this further speaks to how much of an asset the right-footed metronome is for the club.
Appearances
18
13
Goals
1
2
Assists
1
0
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.7
2.3
Ball recoveries per game
5.3
4.8
Ground duel success rate
52%
53%
Aerial duel success rate
59%
40%
As you can see in the table above, Raskin appeared to offer more than Diomande with his work out of possession for the Gers in the Premiership last term.
They won a similar percentage of their ground duels but the Belgian battler was far more effective at winning aerial contests and stopping opposition attacks through tackles, interceptions, and recoveries.
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In conclusion, fans can get excited about the likes of Barron and Diomande, as well as the possible signing of McLean, but it is worth remembering that the Light Blues already have a fantastically talented midfielder in Raskin who the club hit the jackpot with last year.