Derek McInnes’s European squad to face the Poles on Thursday is a very intriguing proposition. Of course, the big headline has been Nico Raskin’s inclusion. We are not even aware yet of his actual return to Auchenhowie. Nevertheless, the Belgian is part of the squad.
Nobody has bid for Raskin
It is a very intriguing development. It shows that the reality of Nico Raskin’s position is that nobody has bid for him. Nobody has offered the amount Rangers want, or indeed made any bid at all.
As we revealed a couple of weeks ago, Derek McInnes made an admission. It essentially confirmed that Hull City had not bid the £14M claimed by many ITK sources in the press.
McInnes has also stated that Raskin will remain at Rangers unless something else changes. He does technically expect Raskin to move on.
Raskin has more or less hinted pretty strongly to the club that he would like to leave. However, the fact remains that no offers have arrived.
McInnes puts Raskin in the shop window
When you have a player theoretically worth well over £20M, you include him in the European squad. That is a tactical choice from McInnes. What it really means is that he is clearly putting Raskin in the shop window.
He knows the boy wants his move. The boy wants his move and will now try to showcase himself again. Apparently, the World Cup did not do enough.
We know that many clubs are looking at Raskin. However, balancing his fee with what is realistic regarding Scotland presents a different question.
Rangers want around £30M. However, it appears Rangers will not receive £30M or anything like it. Indeed, Rangers would more likely be fortunate to get £15M at most for Raskin.
The complete lack of solid offers proves that. As we said, we now know Hull City didn’t even make an offer.
Raskin remains a Rangers player
There are all these names of clubs circling around. However, Raskin remains a Rangers player. At the moment and for the foreseeable future, he is staying.
He is in the shop window and will give everything he has in the Europa League. He wants to move big time. However, the fact is that he is in this squad.
He is in that squad and will almost certainly now play a role. We can see Nico Raskin starting to reintegrate into the Rangers squad following his World Cup exploits.
He will want that move as soon as possible, but it is not surfacing.
Rangers must use their valuable asset
Until it does, there is no point in Rangers having a valuable asset they cannot shift. We need to make use of him and his wages.
If that means him doing damage in the Europa League and the domestic game, then so be it. We will have to see how this one develops.
However, it was not necessarily a surprise to see him listed among that squad.