Glasgow Rangers have had a second bid for Standard Liege midfielder Nicolas Raskin rejected as Michael Beale looks to try and sign the player during the transfer window.

What’s the news?

After failing with their opening bid to sign Raskin, Rangers have had their second bid for the Belgian rejected.

An initial bid for £500k was submitted by the Ibrox side, however, this was swiftly knocked back, alongside a follow-up approach and despite reports in Belgium (via the Scottish Sun) stating that the club have secured a pre-contract agreement for the player, Beale will need to stump up €2m (£1.8m) in order to sign him this month.

With Todd Cantwell already arriving in Glasgow, Beale will now be looking to further boost his midfield options ahead of a crucial few months ahead.

“Pitbull”

Rangers have been after the 21-year-old for a few months now, with initial links dating back to last summer under former manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Beale looks set to face a midfield conundrum during the summer, with the likes of Scott Arfield, Steven Davis, and Ryan Jack out of contract, while the future of on-loan players such as Malik Tillman and James Sands is yet unknown.

This could leave the 42-year-old with a major void to fill in the centre of the pitch and it is imperative that reinforcements are signed this month, with Cantwell making the jump from the Championship to Scotland, Raskin is surely next on the priority list.

He has impressed for Liege this term in the Belgian Pro League, achieving a Sofascore rating of 7.01/10 across 16 appearances and his tenacity could add an extra dynamic to the Light Blues midfield.

Indeed, Raskin is extremely comfortable on the ball, averaging 61.6 touches per game, while his attacking output has been excellent, registering four assists, creating four big chances, and making 1.1 key passes per game.

Not content with simply impressing going forward, the midfielder certainly knows how to succeed at the defensive side of the game, making 3.3 tackles per match, showing that he isn’t afraid to get stuck in while the 21-year-old has won 58% of his duels – at a rate of 5.8 per match.

It’s no wonder then that journalist Bob Faesen described the player as a “pitbull” when he burst onto the scene back in 2020 and if Beale has any ambitions of catching Celtic at the top of the Premiership table this season, signing Raskin in January is a must.