Social media is not the best place to go to get a reasonable and mature sense of where the Rangers fans’ mood currently sits.
As we have seen with the news that Nicolas Raskin is set to be announced as Michael Beale’s latest addition, there have been complaints about how much we have paid for the Belgian Under-21 international with Ross Wilson coming in for stick for paying over €2million for a player that we could get for free in the summer.
But could we?
Therein lies the issue, as already reported by Vital Rangers, competition for the 21-year old has been fierce. Ligue 1 seemed his most likely destination a couple of weeks ago and after it was revealed that Bundesliga sides were also chasing his signature. Rangers had to move quickly, as reported by Get Belgian and Dutch Football News:
“Nicolas Raskin rejected a host of Bundesliga sides in order to join Scottish giants Rangers. The move is finally ready to be made official, as both Standard Liege and Rangers have agreed on a price for the midfielder.
“Raskin had already passed his medical with the side and agreed personal terms. After three bids were rejected, the fourth seems to have been nearer the valuation Standard had of their young midfielder.”
In a transfer that is the exact opposite of Danilho Doekhi, it looks like the pull of the club has been enough to persuade Raskin that the SPFL is worth tolerating.
What this also shows is why we had to pay the fee that has been paid, it’s not desperation, it’s the reality that we are signing a player who is good enough to be wanted by teams in two of the top leagues in Europe. The same reason why we tried to sign Doekhi last January, some you win, some you lose.