Nicolas Raskin has never hidden his ambitions, and according to a former team-mate, those ambitions have always had a specific postcode. Ryan Jack, who shared the Ibrox dressing room with the Belgian midfielder before leaving in 2024, has revealed that Raskin told him early in his Rangers career that he saw the club as a stepping stone to Chelsea, and that the 25-year-old’s frustration at still being in Glasgow is therefore easy to understand.
The remarks, made on Go Radio and picked up by FootballTransfers.com, land at an awkward moment for Rangers. Raskin was widely expected to be sold this summer, after a World Cup in which he helped Belgium reach the quarter-finals. Instead, he is still at Ibrox, playing regularly, and publicly admitting that he was “mentally ready to leave.” Jack’s comments add a layer of history to that admission: this was not a sudden itch, but a long-held plan that has, for now, been put on hold.
Speaking about his former team-mate, Jack framed Raskin’s ambition as entirely reasonable while acknowledging how the situation might be weighing on the player. “He’s got himself in the Belgian national team, got to the World Cup, done really well and agents have been obviously trying to get him that move,” Jack said. “It’s going to be difficult for Nico in the sense that maybe he’s had his heart set thinking that [he was going to get a move], and he’s not been shy in saying that. When he first came, I remember he said he wanted to use the club as a stepping stone to Chelsea.”
Jack was quick to add that he sees no problem with that mindset. “Look, I’ve got no problem with that. It’s showing ambition, it’s showing that you want to do the best you can for your career. If you’ve got drive and determination to try and better your career, and if Rangers get the fee that they think you’re worth, then it works for everyone.”
That last sentence is the key one. Jack is not describing a player who has downed tools or turned against the club. He is describing the ordinary bargain at the heart of Rangers’ modern business model: sign talented players from mid-sized European leagues, get performances out of them, and sell for a profit when a bigger club comes calling. Raskin arrived from Standard Liege in January 2023 and fits that template exactly.
It is worth being precise about what Jack’s comments are and are not. They are a former team-mate’s recollection of what Raskin said about his long-term aims. They are not a report that Chelsea have made an approach, that talks have taken place, or that Raskin’s representatives have opened a dialogue with Stamford Bridge. FootballTransfers.com itself is careful on this point, noting that whether he ends up at Chelsea is “a different question,” even as it observes that the Blues “could use a midfielder like him” and that he “likely wouldn’t be overly expensive.”
To understand why Raskin’s comments have resonated, it helps to revisit the summer he has just endured. After a strong World Cup with Belgium, he looked destined for a move away from Ibrox, with potential suitors reported across Europe. Bologna, Real Betis and Villarreal were all linked at various stages, alongside interest from Turkey, and Villarreal in particular were described as a key suitor before negotiations with Rangers failed to reach a conclusion.
The most dramatic chapter came right at the end of the window. Besiktas pushed hard as the Turkish deadline approached, to the point where Raskin was left out of Derek McInnes’s squads during August while the speculation swirled. He described the final stages in vivid terms to Belgian journalists during the September international break. “A transfer window like that isn’t easy for anyone,” he said. “Not for the players, but not for their families either. There is a lot of uncertainty. You’re basically just waiting for your phone to ring.”
Then came 2 September. “On the morning of September 2nd, they called me to say that there was an offer and even almost an agreement,” Raskin recalled. “But I had a match that evening. On the bus to the stadium, I still didn’t know if I would stay at Rangers. An hour later, I was on the pitch. There wasn’t much time to think.” The deal, in the end, was never completed. He stayed, and the match against Falkirk went ahead with his future still unresolved for hours after the kick-off had passed.
In his own words, the outcome was a disappointment but not a disaster. “It is a bit of a disappointment, because I was mentally ready to leave. But that’s football, and it’s not a big deal. There are many factors and off-field issues to consider when it comes to a transfer.” He added a line that has been widely quoted since: “Ultimately, I’m not in a position where I absolutely have to leave. Rangers is a good club; I’m playing regularly, we have a great squad this year, and we’re achieving good things. If you ask me whether I wanted to take the next step and keep progressing, I’d say ‘yes.’
None of this is new. Raskin has been linked with an Ibrox exit for the best part of two years, ever since establishing himself as one of Rangers’ most consistent performers. Early in last season he was even dropped by then-manager Russell Martin, reportedly because it was felt his head had been turned by outside interest. No transfer materialised at that point either, and the same story played out again this summer despite the platform provided by the World Cup.
The frustration has not been confined to Raskin himself. Pundits in his native Belgium have struggled to understand why a player of his profile is still operating in the Scottish Premiership. Philippe Albert, the former Belgium international, said earlier this month that it was incomprehensible to him that Raskin was still playing in Scotland, a sentiment that reflects a wider view in Belgian football that the midfielder has outgrown his surroundings.
The football case for a move is easy enough to make. Raskin has 19 caps for Belgium, having made his senior debut only in 2025, and was part of a World Cup squad that reached the last eight. He came through Belgium’s youth ranks from Under-15 level upwards and has built his reputation on energy, ball-carrying and an ability to operate in the middle of the park at a high tempo, qualities that translate readily to the Premier League. FootballTransfers.com puts his estimated transfer value at around €9.3m, with a range of €7.9m to €10.6m, which is modest by the standards of English top-flight spending.
There are several possible reasons why the summer move collapsed, and Raskin himself is unsure which mattered most. The likeliest explanation is the simplest: the offers that arrived did not meet Rangers’ valuation, and the timing of the Besiktas approach left too little room to negotiate before the Turkish window closed. Rangers, for their part, had no financial need to sell at a discount, having already restocked their midfield with players such as Cammy Devlin and Dan Neil, which reduced the urgency of finding a replacement.
That squad-building work is important context. Rangers were able to consider selling Raskin partly because they had covered themselves elsewhere, but the same recruitment that made an exit plausible has also, ironically, helped make his retention less painful. Since the window closed, Raskin has started each of Rangers’ last five matches across all competitions and has been a central part of the recent upturn in form under McInnes, including the back-to-back wins over Celtic.
That form is precisely what will interest his suitors. A midfielder who is playing, winning and being seen on a big stage at Old Firm level is a more attractive proposition than one who is sitting out matches while a move drags on. Raskin appears to understand this. “From now on, the focus is back on myself and on performing as well as possible, so that the next transfer window goes better,” he said. “I am not someone who gives up easily anyway. Life goes on. There are worse things.”
Reports suggest he is keen to explore a departure in 2027 if the right opportunity emerges, and FootballTransfers.com describes a “firm expectation” that this will be his final season at Ibrox, adding that anything else “would be a major surprise.”
So where does Chelsea fit in? On the evidence available, as an aspiration rather than an active pursuit. Jack’s comments establish that Chelsea has been Raskin’s preferred destination in the abstract, and they explain why his agents have been pushing so hard for a move to a top-flight club. But there is no suggestion in any of the reporting that Chelsea have made contact with Rangers this season, and the clubs named in connection with actual offers have been Besiktas, Villarreal, Bologna and Real Betis rather than anyone in west London.
That is worth keeping in mind when reading the headline. “Desperate to join Chelsea” is a striking framing, but it rests on Jack’s recollection of a conversation from Raskin’s early days at the club, combined with the midfielder’s more recent public admission that he wanted a bigger stage. It is a reasonable inference that Chelsea would be an attractive destination for him. It is not evidence of a live negotiation.
There is also a practical question about how well the fit would work. Chelsea have spent heavily on young talent in recent windows and have a crowded midfield, and FootballTransfers.com’s own analysis of the club’s transfer situation has pointed to structural problems in the squad. A player of Raskin’s profile and price would not be a transformative signing there, but he might be a useful one, and the fee would barely register in the context of the club’s spending
For Derek McInnes, the situation is manageable and, in some respects, favourable. He has a first-choice midfielder who wanted to leave, could not, and has responded by playing well. That is a better outcome than an unhappy player who refuses to perform, and Raskin’s public comments have been notably professional. He has not criticised the club, has not demanded a transfer, and has emphasised that he is happy in the team.
The risk lies in January and next summer. A player who has told the world he was mentally ready to leave, and whose former team-mate says he has had Chelsea in mind since day one, is a player whose focus will be tested every time a rumour surfaces. McInnes has already shown he is willing to leave Raskin out of a squad when a transfer is in the air, as he did in August, and that approach will be tested again if interest revives.
For Rangers’ board, the calculation is about value. If a suitable bid arrives, the logic of the club’s model says they should take it, as Jack observed. If not, they retain a high-performing asset for another season at the cost of some uncertainty. Either way, the current situation gives them leverage: Raskin is playing well, his profile has been raised by the World Cup, and his stated willingness to keep performing means his price is unlikely to fall.
Ryan Jack’s remarks do not change the facts of Raskin’s situation, but they do add colour to them. The Belgian arrived at Ibrox with a plan, has spent nearly four years working towards it, and has had it delayed twice. He is handling that disappointment with more grace than many players would, and Rangers are benefiting from his form in the meantime.
Whether Chelsea is the eventual destination remains an open question, and nothing published so far suggests it is a probable one. But as a snapshot of a player’s ambition, and of the way Rangers’ business model shapes the mindset of the players who pass through it, Jack’s account is revealing. Raskin wants to leave, Rangers want a fair price, and both sides now have until the next window to see whether those two positions can be brought together. For McInnes, the priority is simpler: keep him playing, keep him happy, and enjoy the performances while they last.
