Rangers ‘Not Guilty’ Over Transfer Delay as Nico Raskin Update Given and Derek McInnes Purrs Over Two Players
Derek McInnes has moved to defend Rangers’ handling of a chaotic transfer window, insisting the club isn’t to blame for the length of time it’s taken to complete incoming deals, while confirming there’s still been no offer for Nicolas Raskin as speculation over his future continues to simmer.
Speaking after Sunday’s 1-0 win over Aberdeen, McInnes was asked directly whether Rangers were closer to sanctioning any departures before the deadline, with Raskin — once again left out of the matchday squad — the obvious subject. His answer was blunt: there’s certainly been no offers for Nico, he confirmed, while acknowledging that the closing days of the window tend to be when things really accelerate, meaning Rangers “need to be primed for that.”
McInnes said he’d spoken with chief executive Jim Gillespie the previous day specifically about the recruitment picture, and that as things stand, he doesn’t believe there’s anything imminent in terms of outgoings. That’s a notable update given the volume of reported interest in Raskin throughout the summer — enquiries from clubs across England, Italy and Spain have all been noted in recent reporting, alongside speculation linking him with Besiktas in Turkey — none of which, on McInnes’s own account, has yet crystallized into anything resembling a formal bid Rangers would need to consider.
Beyond the Raskin situation, McInnes also pushed back against any suggestion that Rangers themselves are responsible for the pace at which incoming transfer business has moved this summer — hence the “not guilty” framing. With Youssef Chermiti’s serious knee injury against Hibernian having triggered an urgent search for attacking reinforcement, and with that search still not fully resolved even as the deadline approaches, McInnes was clear that the length of the process hasn’t been down to any reluctance or inefficiency on Rangers’ part.
“In terms of ones in, it’s been a while now since Youssef went down against Hibs, so we’re really keen and eager to get the striker in that we want,” he said, before the available reporting cuts off. The clear implication is that Rangers have been doing everything they can to move quickly on incoming deals, with any delay attributable to the negotiating process itself — valuations, competing interest, logistics — rather than any lack of urgency
Amid the broader discussion of recruitment strategy and outstanding business, McInnes used the same set of post-match comments to single out two individuals for particular praise following Sunday’s win — almost certainly Kim Min-su, who impressed on his full debut with a string of threatening moments including a stinging 30-yard free-kick that forced a top save from Aberdeen’s Marius Müller, and Lawrence Shankland, whose composed 69th-minute penalty proved the difference in a tense, low-quality contest at Pittodrie. Both were central to a result that eased significant pressure on McInnes just days after Rangers’ chastening Conference League exit to Jablonec left him “mortified” and facing open questions about his job security.
The most concrete piece of incoming transfer news concerns Kevin Kelsy, with Rangers reported to be closing in on a £9 million deal for the Portland Timbers striker. That fee, if confirmed, would represent one of the more significant outlays in the club’s history, addressing directly the attacking hole left by Chermiti’s injury — though as with previous reporting on the move, the exact timeline for Kelsy’s registration and debut remains tied to standard visa and paperwork processes for a player arriving from MLS.
Taken together, McInnes’s comments paint a picture of a club still very much active in the market as the deadline nears, prioritising incoming attacking reinforcement over any rush to complete departures. Raskin’s situation remains unresolved, with McInnes’s own account suggesting Rangers are neither actively pushing him out the door nor under any real pressure to do so in the absence of a concrete offer — a stance consistent with the club’s messaging throughout the summer that they’ll only sanction a sale on their own valuation terms, not simply because interest exists.
With the window’s traditional late crescendo of activity still to come, and both the Kelsy deal and Raskin’s ultimate fate still unresolved, McInnes will head into the final stretch before the deadline needing to balance closing out his primary attacking target with whatever developments emerge, however suddenly, around his out-of-favour Belgian midfielder.
