Replacing Nicolas Raskin: The Midfielder Pulling the Strings Who Rangers Should Sign

Every great midfield has a conductor. Not necessarily the player who scores the most or makes the highlights, but the one around whom everything else is arranged: the man who receives the ball under pressure, decides within a heartbeat whether to turn, play short or switch the angle, and makes the whole team feel calmer for having him on the pitch. For the past few seasons at Rangers, that role has belonged to Nicolas Raskin. Now, with the Belgian’s future the subject of constant speculation and a substantial fee reportedly waiting for anyone who wants him, the question facing the club is one of the most important it will answer: who takes the baton?

The case for a conductor, rather than just a replacement, is the heart of the argument. It would be easy to approach the problem as a matter of ticking boxes. Raskin wins the ball, so find someone who wins the ball. Raskin passes progressively, so find someone with similar numbers. But football is not a spreadsheet, and a midfield is not a set of interchangeable parts. What Raskin gave Rangers was influence over the tempo and shape of matches, and that is much harder to replicate than a tackle count. The player who should replace him is, above all, someone who can pull the strings.

Start with what the club would be losing. Raskin joined Rangers on 31 January 2023 from Standard Liège, arriving as a young Belgian midfielder with a reputation for energy and technique. He was born in February 2001, and by the time reports about his future intensified he had made more than a hundred league appearances for the club and scored eleven goals in the process. His rise has not been confined to Scotland. He earned more than fifty caps across Belgium’s youth teams and made his senior debut in March 2025, coming off the bench in a Nations League tie against Ukraine. He has since been part of a Belgian squad at a World Cup, which has only raised his profile and his price.

That price is the context for everything. Reports in the Scottish and English press have put his value at around £20m, with some suggesting a club-record fee for Rangers could be achievable. Interest has been linked to a range of clubs, among them Villarreal, Real Betis and Manchester United, and reports have said that he is open to a move. He is contracted until 2028, which means Rangers are under no obligation to sell, but the consensus among many observers is that a player of his age and standing, with a strong market and a contract that will not stay long forever, represents a moment to cash in. [Insert the current status: whether Raskin has left, is expected to leave, or has stayed.]

If the sale does come, Rangers will have a sum of money and a hole to fill. That is a familiar dilemma in modern football, and it is one the club has handled with mixed results in the past. Selling a star is relatively easy. Replacing him is not. The history of the game is littered with clubs that took the cheque, signed a supposedly comparable replacement and then watched the team lose its shape. The lesson from those cases is that the replacement must fit the role, not merely the position.

So what exactly is the role? Raskin’s profile is that of a combative but technical central midfielder, someone who competes for the ball but is also comfortable on it. He drives forward when the opportunity arises, takes shots from distance and has the stamina to cover large amounts of ground. He is, in the modern phrase, a box-to-box midfielder, but one with enough composure to operate in tight spaces. What he gave Rangers was a bridge between defence and attack, a player who could progress the ball and also protect the back line.

The most obvious approach to replacing him is to find a similar player. Several names have circulated in the media over the past year, and they illustrate the range of options. Jens Hjertø-Dahl, a young Norwegian at Tromsø, has been repeatedly linked, with reports of personal terms and a fee of around £5m. He is 20, plays for Norway’s under-21s and was reported to have been involved in seven goals in thirteen games in a recent spell, along with strong numbers for recovering possession. Elliot Watt, the Motherwell midfielder, has been described by one analyst as the best midfielder in the Scottish Premiership in the 2025/26 season, and would bring league experience at a modest price. Lewis Ferguson, a former Aberdeen captain now of Bologna, has been advanced by pundits as a tailor-made option who knows Scottish football. Other names, such as Emil Bohinen and Metinho, have appeared in the rumour mill at various points.

Each of these candidates has merits, and each raises a different question about what Rangers need. A young, high-potential signing like Hjertø-Dahl offers the possibility of growth and resale value, but carries the risk of a learning curve. A proven domestic performer like Watt offers immediate familiarity at lower cost, but may lack the ceiling to replicate Raskin’s influence. An established name like Ferguson brings quality and leadership, but at a price and with the usual uncertainty over whether a player will move. The right choice depends on what the club values most.

Which brings us to [PLAYER]. [Insert the player’s name, club, age, nationality and the main argument for him from the original article, using your own words or very short quotes.] What makes him the candidate for the role is not simply his statistics, though they are strong, but the way he plays. [Insert key attributes: passing range, positioning, ability to dictate tempo, composure under pressure, defensive work.] That is the profile of a midfielder who can pull the strings, someone who sets the rhythm of a match rather than merely taking part in it.

It is worth being precise about what pulling the strings means in practice. A string-pulling midfielder has several qualities. He is available: he moves into pockets of space where teammates can find him, even when the opposition is pressing hard. He is composed: he receives the ball with a defender on his back and still finds the pass. He is intelligent: he understands when to slow the game down and when to speed it up, when to recycle possession and when to risk a killer ball. And he is influential: the team plays better when he is on the pitch, and the difference is visible when he is absent.

Those are the traits that distinguish a conductor from a runner. A runner covers the ground. A conductor decides where the ground should be covered. Rangers have had plenty of the former over the years, and the best periods of success have always featured the latter. The league-winning side of the early 2020s, for instance, was built around midfielders who could control matches as well as contest them. When that control disappears, the team becomes more reactive, more dependent on moments of individual brilliance and more vulnerable to opponents who can disrupt its rhythm.

There is an additional consideration: the role Raskin played evolved over time. In his early days at Ibrox, he was an energetic, somewhat raw presence. As he matured, he became more refined, more tactically aware and more central to the team’s structure. That evolution shows why replacing him with a similar-looking player may not be enough. The player Rangers lose is not the one who arrived in 2023, but a more complete midfielder who has grown into a leading figure. Replacing a player at the peak of his powers with someone still developing may mean accepting a dip, at least in the short term.

That is not necessarily a reason to avoid younger options. A dip can be managed if the club is realistic and the manager is supportive. The reported £5m price for a talent like Hjertø-Dahl, set against a potential £20m or more from the Raskin sale, suggests that Rangers could make a profit while investing in the future. But if the aim is to maintain the team’s level immediately, particularly in a season with title ambitions and European fixtures, then a more experienced player may be the safer bet.

Here the manager’s preferences matter. Derek McInnes, who has been linked in the coverage I found with the club’s recruitment this year, is known as a pragmatic coach who values structure and reliability. His teams have typically been well drilled, organised and effective in the Scottish context. A midfielder who fits that approach, who combines intelligence with solidity, is likely to appeal. A player who can slot into a system and make it work is worth more than a talented individual who requires the system to be rebuilt around him.

It is also worth thinking about balance. A midfield is a unit, and the best ones feature complementary skills. If Rangers’ other central midfielders are more attacking, the new arrival may need to be the anchor: a disciplined presence who protects the defence while still progressing the ball. If the others are more defensive, the replacement may need to offer creativity and forward thrust. The squad’s existing composition will shape the answer, and a good recruitment team will analyse it before committing.

There is the matter of adaptability as well. Scottish football has its own character: physical, direct at times, with a premium on competing for second balls and handling hostile atmospheres. Players who arrive from other leagues sometimes struggle with the tempo or the physicality. Those who know the league have a head start. That is why domestic candidates like Watt and Ferguson are attractive: they understand what the competition demands. But it should not be overstated. Raskin himself came from Belgium and adjusted quickly, and plenty of foreign midfielders have thrived at Rangers over the years.

The financial dimension cannot be ignored. Rangers operate in a league with limited television income compared with the richest in Europe, and their success has long depended on a combination of shrewd recruitment, player development and well-timed sales. A deal in which Raskin is sold for a record fee and a high-potential replacement is signed for a fraction of the price fits that model neatly. It allows the club to reinvest the difference in other areas of the squad, whether in attack, defence or depth. In that sense, the quality of the replacement is only part of the story; the overall use of the proceeds matters too.

But money should not be the only criterion. A club that sells its best midfielder and replaces him with a cheaper alternative needs to be confident that the quality gap is bridged. Supporters will tolerate a sale if they see evidence of ambition, but they will not forgive a decline in performance disguised as financial prudence. The tension between profit and competitiveness is one of the central challenges in modern club management, and the Raskin situation is a clear example of it.

It is also worth considering the timing. If Raskin has already left or is leaving soon, the replacement needs to arrive quickly enough to settle before key fixtures. A late deal can leave a player scrambling to adapt, while an early one allows a proper pre-season or a bedding-in period. In a transfer window, speed often matters as much as choice. Several of the reports around the club’s interest in candidates described offers being rejected, second bids being prepared and competition from other clubs. That is a reminder that the best target is not always the one who can be secured, and that flexibility is part of good recruitment.

The experience of other clubs offers some lessons. Those that have successfully replaced a midfield leader generally did so by identifying the qualities they needed and then finding the best available player who offered them, not by chasing a like-for-like name. They also tended to build the replacement into a wider plan, with complementary signings and a coherent tactical idea. The ones that failed often did so because they treated the departure as a one-for-one swap and left other weaknesses unaddressed.

For Rangers, the challenge is therefore twofold: identify the right profile and ensure the squad around him supports it. A string-puller needs runners ahead of him, defenders behind him who can play out and a system that gives him time on the ball. Without those, even the most gifted conductor will struggle. That is why the choice of [PLAYER], or any other candidate, must be seen as part of a larger design rather than a stand-alone decision.

None of this diminishes the scale of the task. Raskin has been one of the most influential players in the Scottish Premiership in recent seasons, and his departure would leave a significant gap. Supporters will miss his energy, his goals and his willingness to take responsibility. But football moves on, and every club must manage change. The measure of a well-run organisation is not that it never loses its best players, but that it knows how to replace them.

In the end, the best replacement for a midfield conductor is another conductor. It might be a younger version with more to learn, a seasoned professional with fewer surprises or a left-field choice who brings a different flavour. What matters is that the person who takes over the role understands what it demands: the ability to control a game, to make those around him better and to carry the weight of expectation that comes with the shirt. If [PLAYER] has those qualities, as the case for him suggests, then Rangers would be wise to move decisively.

The next few weeks and months will reveal how the club approaches the problem. Offers will be made, rumours will circulate and supporters will argue about who should come. Some of the names in the frame will be discarded, and others will emerge from nowhere. But the principle should remain the same: sign the player who can run the midfield, not just play in it. Do that, and the departure of a star need not be a setback. It could be the start of something just as good