Nicolas Raskin’s future was supposed to have been settled the moment Scotland’s transfer window slammed shut. Instead, more than 48 hours after Rangers completed their own deadline-day business, the Belgian midfielder’s situation remains genuinely unresolved, with Besiktas continuing to push for a deal even as talks appear to have hit turbulence along the way. The Super Lig club’s pursuit of Raskin has become one of the more drawn-out sagas of the entire transfer window, and with Turkey’s market not closing until Friday — a full window later than Scotland’s own deadline — Rangers supporters are still waiting to discover whether their combative Belgian midfielder will be lining up for the club beyond this week.
The most immediate and tangible piece of news amid the ongoing speculation is that Raskin remains available for selection and is in line to face Falkirk in the Scottish Premiership. That in itself tells its own story: whatever discussions are ongoing behind the scenes between Rangers, Besiktas and Raskin’s representatives, nothing has progressed far enough to see him left out of Derek McInnes’ matchday plans. For a manager who has been managing an unusually turbulent transfer window from start to finish, having his prize midfielder still fully involved and ready to play is at least one small mercy amid the continuing uncertainty.
That’s not to say the situation is settled, however. Reports out of Turkey paint a picture of a deal that is very much still alive, if not entirely straightforward. Turkish outlet HT Spor has reported that “negotiations hit a snag” in the discussions between the two clubs, while also noting that Besiktas “are working to overcome this hiccup” rather than abandoning their pursuit altogether. Meanwhile, other reports emerging from Turkey suggest Raskin’s own representatives remain confident that their client will indeed end up a Besiktas player before the window in Turkey finally shuts. It’s the kind of contradictory, rapidly shifting picture that tends to characterise deadline sagas playing out across multiple countries and time zones, with different outlets picking up different strands of the same
The reason this story is still running at all comes down to a simple quirk of European football’s transfer calendar: while the Scottish transfer window has already closed, Turkey’s own deadline doesn’t fall until Friday, giving Besiktas several additional days to try to get a deal for Raskin over the line even though Rangers’ domestic business is technically finished. That discrepancy in deadlines is exactly what has kept this story alive past the point where most Rangers supporters might have expected total clarity on their squad for the season ahead.
There’s an added wrinkle for Besiktas, too, beyond simply agreeing personal terms and a fee with Rangers. The Turkish club faces a race against time ahead of the deadline for registering their European squad, an administrative requirement that runs on its own separate schedule and adds a further layer of urgency to their efforts to complete a deal quickly rather than let the situation drift right up to Friday’s cut-off. If Besiktas want Raskin available to feature in continental competition for them this season, they need to have their paperwork in order well before the general transfer deadline arrives, which likely explains why reports out of Turkey continue to describe an active, ongoing push rather than a deal that’s been quietly shelved.
To understand why Besiktas are so determined to get this deal done despite the apparent hiccups, it’s worth revisiting exactly what kind of player Rangers would be losing if talks do eventually conclude with Raskin’s departure. The Belgian has established himself as one of the most combative, technically accomplished midfielders to emerge from Ibrox in recent seasons, a player whose energy and range of passing have made him a fixture in McInnes’ side whenever fit and available. His performances for Belgium at international level have only added to that reputation, drawing interest not just from Besiktas but reportedly from clubs including Real Betis and Bologna as his stock has continued to rise.
That broader interest is itself part of a now-familiar pattern for Rangers, where a player’s transfer value seems to climb fastest right at the point the club is trying to hold onto him, rather than while he’s already been sold. It’s the same dynamic that has played out with departures like Fashion Sakala, whose value and output only became fully apparent to outside observers once he’d already left for Saudi Arabia, and it’s a pattern that will only add to the sense of urgency if Rangers do eventually decide the numbers being offered by Besiktas are good enough to sanction a sale.
Throughout the speculation, Derek McInnes has walked a deliberately careful line — full of praise for Raskin as a player and a person, while also being candid about the commercial realities that could yet see him depart. “He’s such a good boy and yes, he’s getting interest because he’s a good player, but a lot of these are hypotheticals,” McInnes said as the speculation intensified. “If something comes in that the club need to consider, then obviously that has an impact on me and Nico in terms of where we’re at. But he’s a good player. I want to work with good players.”
That measured tone has continued even as the situation has run past the Scottish deadline. McInnes has been unequivocal that, from a footballing perspective, he wants Raskin to stay and has no doubts about what he offers if he remains at the club. “I’ve no doubt that if the window closes and Nico is still a Rangers player, then he’ll give brilliant service as he’s done previously,” the manager said, a comment that carries slightly different weight now that “the window” closing has become a more complicated question than it might have first appeared, given Turkey’s later deadline. Raskin’s continued involvement in matchday squads — including his appearance in Rangers’ midweek win over Falkirk before this news, and now his inclusion for the following Falkirk fixture — suggests the club is, for now, planning as though he’ll still be around, even while acknowledging a departure remains a live possibility until Friday passes.
This isn’t unfamiliar territory for either club when it comes to doing transfer business with one another, and that shared history adds an extra layer of intrigue to how these talks might ultimately resolve. Rangers and Besiktas have crossed paths in the market before, most notably when Rangers signed left-back Ridvan Yilmaz from the Turkish side back in the summer of 2022, in a deal reported to be worth in the region of £3.4m to £4m depending on the structure of add-ons involved. Yilmaz spent three years at Ibrox, making 52 appearances for the club, before returning to Besiktas this year — a reminder that transfer relationships between these two clubs have, in the past, worked in both directions and have generally been conducted in a straightforward manner once terms were agreed.
There’s a more recent precedent, too, that’s specifically relevant to Rangers’ current midfield business: Ivorian midfielder Mohamed Diomande was sold by Rangers to fellow Turkish Süper Lig side FK Corum earlier this same transfer window, demonstrating that Rangers have already shown a clear willingness to do business with Turkish clubs this summer when the financial terms make sense for the Ibrox club. That context makes Besiktas’ persistence in pursuing Raskin, even past Scotland’s own deadline, feel like more than just wishful thinking from the Turkish side — Rangers have already proven this window that they’re not averse to sanctioning departures to the Süper Lig when the numbers work.
Raskin’s uncertain situation needs to be viewed against the backdrop of what has been, by Derek McInnes’ own description, the most demanding transfer window of his managerial career. Rangers completed fourteen new signings across the summer, headlined by the £9.5m arrival of striker Kevin Kelsy from Portland Timbers and the deadline-day loan signing of winger Badredine Bouanani from Stuttgart, while simultaneously working through a long list of departures that included John Souttar, Bojan Miovski, Clinton Nsiala and Lyall Cameron. McInnes has spoken about the toll that volume of activity has taken, describing the window as feeling “like I’ve been to war” and admitting the club never got absolutely everything it wanted, including additional cover at left-sided centre-back and in midfield.
Raskin’s potential exit would obviously compound that midfield concern rather than ease it, which is presumably part of the calculation Rangers are weighing up as they decide how to respond to Besiktas’ continued interest. Losing a player of Raskin’s quality and consistency, at a point in the window where replacing him through the Scottish market is no longer possible, would represent a significant blow to the squad’s balance heading into a season where Rangers are expected to compete on every front. That’s precisely why McInnes’ public comments have carried the tone they have — genuine warmth toward Raskin as a player and a person, but also a pragmatic acknowledgment that the finances of a substantial offer could ultimately be difficult for the club to turn down, regardless of the footballing cost
From Besiktas’ perspective, the persistence in pursuing Raskin despite the reported snag in negotiations makes plenty of sense. A combative, ball-progressing midfielder with senior Belgian international experience and a growing reputation across European football represents exactly the kind of profile a club of Besiktas’ stature would want to add, particularly with continental competition on the horizon and a registration deadline of their own to meet. The willingness to keep working through complications in the deal, rather than walking away at the first sign of difficulty, suggests this is viewed very much as a priority target rather than an opportunistic, low-effort approach.
It also fits a broader pattern of Turkish clubs showing increased appetite for established Scottish Premiership talent in recent windows, with Rangers themselves having already sold Diomande into the same league earlier this summer. Whether that reflects genuinely improved financial muscle within the Süper Lig, a strategic push to strengthen squads ahead of European campaigns, or simply Besiktas identifying specific individual targets they believe can make an immediate impact, the net effect for Rangers is the same: a level of continued interest in their best players that shows no sign of relenting just because one particular transfer deadline has l
With Turkey’s window not closing until Friday, Rangers and their supporters face several more days of uncertainty over Raskin’s future before any real clarity arrives. The reported snag in negotiations could yet prove terminal for Besiktas’ hopes, allowing Rangers to breathe easy and build the rest of their season around a fully committed midfield anchor. Alternatively, if the two clubs manage to work through whatever has caused the hold-up — and the confidence being expressed by Raskin’s representatives in Turkish media suggests at least one side of the negotiation believes that’s achievable — Rangers could yet find themselves losing a key player right at the point their own window has already shut, with no ability to bring in a direct replacement through the transfer market this side of January.
For now, the practical reality is straightforward: Raskin remains a Rangers player, available for selection, and set to feature against Falkirk. Everything else is, in McInnes’ own words, still very much a hypothetical — but a hypothetical that Besiktas, by all accounts, have no intention of giving up on before their own deadline finally arrives.
