The Loan Model, The Raskin Millions, And Why Rangers’ Summer Transfer Strategy Is Smarter Than It Looks

On the surface, it looks like a patchwork job. A striker signed on a free. A right-back brought back from England. A centre-back arriving on loan from a Serie A club where he cannot get a game. A manager building his squad piece by piece, mixing free transfers with loan deals, filling gaps left by departing players with experienced names who come without the kind of permanent commitment that defines a club truly investing in its future.

That is one way of reading Rangers’ summer transfer activity so far. It is not, however, the right way.

Look more carefully at what Derek McInnes is doing at Ibrox — look at the logic behind each individual decision, the financial framework that governs the entire operation, and the bigger picture that is only now beginning to come into focus — and what you find is not panic or improvisation but a coherent, intelligent, and genuinely exciting transfer strategy. One that uses loans and free transfers not as a substitute for ambition but as a bridge toward something much bigger — a bridge that is almost certainly being funded, at least in part, by the imminent departure of Nicolas Raskin and the extraordinary windfall that sale is expected to generate.

Ben Godfrey’s loan move from Atalanta is the latest piece of that puzzle. And understanding why Rangers are pursuing it on a temporary rather than permanent basis tells you everything about how this club is thinking this summer.

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**The Raskin Factor: Everything Flows From Here**

Before any other piece of Rangers’ transfer summer can be properly understood, you need to start with Nicolas Raskin — because the Belgian midfielder’s departure is the financial event that shapes everything else the club does between now and the end of the window.

Raskin arrived at Ibrox in January 2023 for just £1.5 million from Standard Liège. In the three and a half years since, he has transformed himself into one of the most complete central midfielders in Scottish football — a player with the technical quality, defensive intensity, and creative output to compete at the very highest level. His performances earned him Belgium international recognition. His consistency made him the heartbeat of the Rangers midfield. And his emergence as one of the most coveted players in the Scottish Premiership has created a situation where Rangers can now sell him for a reported £20 million.

That is not a typo. Twenty million pounds for a player who cost one and a half million. A profit of £18.5 million on a single transfer — one of the most remarkable returns on investment in Scottish football history.

Real Betis, managed by Manuel Pellegrini, are leading the chase for Raskin’s signature and have already received personal approval from the manager to pursue the deal. La Liga represents a significant step up from the Scottish Premiership for Raskin, and the lure of playing in Spain under one of the most respected coaches in world football is understandable. Multiple clubs from the Premier League, Serie A, and the Turkish Super Lig are also circling, which gives Rangers leverage and the confidence that their £20 million asking price will be met.

The question that matters most for everything else happening at Ibrox this summer is not whether Raskin will leave — he almost certainly will — but what Rangers do with the money when he does. And that is where the loan strategy, and the Godfrey deal specifically, becomes deeply interesting.
The pursuit of Ben Godfrey on a season-long loan from Atalanta is not, on its own, particularly remarkable. Clubs sign loan players every summer. It is a normal part of the transfer market. But in the context of Rangers’ broader summer activity — free transfers for Shankland and potentially Devlin, a loan for McCrorie from Bristol City, and now a loan for Godfrey — a clear pattern is beginning to emerge.

McInnes is using low-cost, low-commitment solutions to address immediate squad needs while preserving financial flexibility for when the bigger money arrives. Every deal completed on a free transfer or a loan is money not spent permanently — money that stays available for the moment when Raskin’s sale is confirmed and a significant transfer budget suddenly becomes available.

That is smart management. It is the kind of thinking that distinguishes clubs with genuine long-term vision from clubs that simply spend whatever they have in the moment, without regard for the bigger picture. By filling defensive gaps with Godfrey on loan rather than committing to a permanent signing, Rangers keep their options open. If the Raskin money arrives and a superior centre-back becomes available — someone with a more established track record at the highest level, someone who fits McInnes’s long-term vision as a permanent fixture rather than a temporary measure — the funds are there to act decisively.

The immediate issue for Rangers is not just adding numbers, but replacing the balance lost by the departure of four defenders in a single summer. Godfrey on loan addresses that imbalance quickly and efficiently, without closing any doors that need to remain open for the bigger business that is coming.

To appreciate why Rangers needed to move quickly for defensive cover, you need to understand the scale of the problem that McInnes inherited when he walked through the Ibrox door.

James Tavernier left when his contract expired — a departure that ended one of the longest and most significant individual associations in recent Rangers history. The former captain spent a decade at Ibrox, making over 400 appearances and contributing goals and assists at a rate that no other right-back in Scottish football history has matched. Replacing him, in terms of pure quality and output, is a long-term challenge that will take more than one summer to resolve.

Max Aarons returned to his parent club after his loan spell ended without a permanent deal being struck. The former Norwich City right-back had shown genuine quality during his time at Ibrox but the numbers involved in making the deal permanent were not right for Rangers at this stage of their rebuild.

Nasser Djiga went back to Blackburn Rovers when his loan concluded — another talented defender who impressed during his time in Glasgow but whose situation did not allow for a permanent arrangement. And Derek Cornelius returned to his parent club as well, completing a clean sweep of departures that left McInnes with a defensive line that needed significant reinforcement before competitive football began.

Four defenders gone in one summer. The urgency is real and the need for solutions — even temporary ones — is undeniable. Godfrey, who can play across multiple defensive positions including both centre-back and full-back roles, offers McInnes flexibility and quality in a situation where both are desperately needed.

Ben Godfrey is not the most glamorous name on Rangers’ transfer list this summer. He is not the kind of signing that generates viral social media content or sends supporters into raptures. But in the context of what Rangers need right now — experienced, versatile, committed defensive cover that can contribute immediately — he is exactly the right player at exactly the right time.

The Englishman moved to Atalanta from Everton in 2024 for £11 million — a fee that reflected his reputation at the time as one of the more promising defenders in English football. His Premier League career at Everton had shown real quality before injuries and changing circumstances reduced his opportunities at Goodison Park. The move to Italy was supposed to be a reset, a chance to rebuild in a new environment under one of Europe’s most innovative coaches.

But Italy proved difficult. Godfrey made just one Serie A appearance for Atalanta in two years, spending most of his time either injured, on the periphery of the squad, or out on loan. Ipswich Town, Sheffield United, and Danish club Brøndby provided competitive minutes at various points, but none of those spells delivered the sustained run of games that Godfrey needs to get back to his best.

Rangers, under McInnes, represent something different and potentially more meaningful. The Scottish Premiership is a competition Godfrey can influence from the first day — a league where his Premier League experience, his physical qualities, and his ability on the ball will stand out immediately. McInnes is not asking Godfrey to overcome a cultural or linguistic barrier. He is not asking him to adapt to a radically different tactical system or compete for a place against established international defenders who have been at the club for years.

He is simply asking him to come to Ibrox, play his game, and be a key part of a defensive unit being rebuilt from scratch. For a player in Godfrey’s position — hungry, experienced, and desperate to prove that his best football is still ahead of him — that is an enormously attractive proposition.

There is something worth noting about the pattern of McInnes’s recruitment so far — a theme that runs through both the McCrorie signing and the potential Godfrey deal that speaks to a deliberate strategy rather than coincidence.

Ross McCrorie, who arrived from Bristol City to replace Tavernier at right-back, is not simply a right-back. He has played as a centre-back, as a defensive midfielder, and across multiple positions throughout his career. His adaptability was one of the qualities that made him attractive to McInnes, who knows from their time together at Aberdeen that McCrorie can fulfil different roles within a system depending on what the team needs at any given moment.

Godfrey brings the same quality. Although his natural position is centre-back, he is comfortable at left-back and right-back, giving McInnes cover across the entire defensive line. In a squad being rebuilt with limited resources and an uncertain number of additions still to come, having defenders who can play in two or three positions is not a luxury — it is a necessity.

If McInnes continues this pattern as the window progresses, it tells you something important about his management philosophy. This is a coach who builds teams that are adaptable, hard to pin down tactically, and capable of absorbing injuries and suspensions without losing their shape or their competitive edge. That kind of organisational intelligence is what makes a team capable of sustaining a title challenge across 38 games — not just winning the games they should win, but grinding out results when key players are unavailable and the tactical plan needs to flex.

Godfrey is not the only defensive story at Ibrox this summer. Emmanuel Fernandez, the Uruguayan centre-back who has been one of the more impressive defenders at the club in recent seasons, is reportedly wanted by a host of clubs — adding another potential departure to a list that is already long enough to cause serious concern.

If Fernandez does leave, the pressure on McInnes to find permanent defensive solutions — not just loan players and free transfers — increases significantly. That is another reason why the Raskin sale is so important. Without the funds generated by the Belgian’s departure, Rangers are in the uncomfortable position of trying to address multiple defensive weaknesses with limited financial resources. With those funds, the picture changes entirely.

A £20 million Raskin sale, with minimal spending committed so far, gives Rangers a genuine transfer war chest — enough to bring in one high-quality permanent defensive signing and still have funds remaining for other positions. The question of who that permanent signing might be is one that McInnes and the board will be working through over the coming weeks, with the Fernandez situation adding an extra layer of urgency to those conversations.

Godfrey on loan buys time. It fills the gap that exists right now, before the Raskin money arrives, before the permanent signings are identified and completed. And if Godfrey performs well enough at Ibrox — as he is more than capable of doing when fit and motivated — there is every possibility that the conversation around his future at the club extends beyond the end of his loan in June 2027.

Alongside the loan strategy, Rangers have also been active in the free transfer market — and the signings of Lawrence Shankland and potentially Cammy Devlin reflect a philosophy of extracting maximum value from the zero-cost end of the market.

Shankland, arriving for nothing after his Hearts contract expired, brings the kind of goalscoring quality that Rangers would normally need to spend significant money to acquire. His record in the Scottish Premiership is outstanding — top scorer in the division on multiple occasions, consistent performer in big games, experienced leader with international credentials. Getting him for free is, by any measure, extraordinary business.

Devlin, if confirmed, adds a similar dimension in midfield. A combative, experienced, thoroughly reliable box-to-box presence who drove Hearts to the brink of the Scottish Premiership title last season — arriving at Ibrox for nothing because his contract expired. These are not compromise signings. These are quality players who happen to be available on free transfers because their contracts ran out at the right moment.

The combination of free transfers for established Scottish Premiership quality and loans for players with broader European experience is not accidental. It is a carefully calibrated approach designed to maximise the quality of the squad while preserving financial resources for the permanent, fee-paying signings that will define the longer-term direction of the rebuild.

When you put all of this together — Shankland up front, McCrorie at right-back, Godfrey and potentially a permanent centre-back signing at the heart of defence, Devlin anchoring the midfield, and Lewis Ferguson potentially arriving as the creative force in the engine room — what you begin to see is the outline of a team that could genuinely challenge Celtic for the Scottish Premiership title.

It is not there yet. The pieces are still coming together, and the Raskin situation needs to resolve itself before the final shape of the squad becomes clear. But the direction is unmistakable and encouraging. McInnes is not building a team to make up the numbers. He is building a team to win.

The loan model, the free transfer strategy, and the careful preservation of financial flexibility are all in service of that single goal. When the Raskin money lands, Rangers will be in a position to spend it wisely rather than desperately — adding permanent quality to a foundation that has already been thoughtfully constructed.

Ben Godfrey on loan is one small but significant part of that construction. And in the context of the bigger picture taking shape at Ibrox this summer, it makes complete sense.