For Nico Raskin, a remarkable season which began as an outcast at Rangers is reaching its conclusion as a World Cup stand-out with Belgium.
As he takes to the pitch in Los Angeles for the quarter-final showdown with Spain, Raskin’s thoughts will be a million miles away from those bizarre days last August and September when he was dropped from the Rangers squad by Russell Martin.
It’s safe to say the 25-year-old midfielder has been utterly vindicated since then, having been among the first to see through the vacuousness of Martin’s messaging during his ill-fated period as the Ibrox club’s manager.
While Martin is now preparing to try and rebuild his battered reputation at Leicester City in the third tier of English football, with trips to Notts County, MK Dons and Stockport on the horizon, Raskin’s burgeoning reputation looks to have him on the cusp of a big money transfer this summer. Talk about having the last laugh.
Rangers are already preparing for the inevitability of firm interest in Raskin who has been strongly linked with Serie A duo Atalanta and Bologna, while several English Premier League clubs, including Tottenham and Hull City, are understood to have him on their radar.
The £20million club record fee which Rangers received from Ajax for defender Calvin Bassey four years ago will certainly be broken if they do sell Raskin, under contract at Ibrox until 2028, in the coming weeks.
Nicolas Raskin (right) celebrates Belgium’s emphatic 4-1 World Cup last-16 victory over USA
In exploring potential moves for Norwegian midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl and Partizan Belgrade playmaker Vanja Duagojevic, Rangers are clearly lining up potential replacements.
Raskin’s performances for Belgium in the World Cup, where he has featured in all five of the Red Devils’ matches so far, make what happened to him under Martin at the start of the 2025-26 campaign all the more difficult to credit.
Just four games into the season, Raskin was dropped to the bench for the first time by Martin who regarded Joe Rothwell as a better option in midfield.
While the exact details of their disagreement behind the scenes have never been clarified, Martin suggested that Raskin’s head may have been turned by speculation linking him with Turkish clubs Besiktas and Fenerbahce at the time.
To the widespread disbelief of Rangers supporters, Raskin was then left out of the matchday squad altogether for the first Old Firm game of the season at the end of August.
Raskin went on international duty immediately afterwards, shrugging off his club issues by scoring his first goal for Belgium in a win over Kazakhstan as they marched towards World Cup qualification.
It did nothing to soften Martin’s stance, however, who again left him out of Rangers’ next game at home to Hearts which they lost 2-0.
Despite stating their differences had been resolved, Martin delivered a sideways swipe at Raskin by claiming: ‘He has a duty to make sure that he earns the trust of all his other team-mates and the coaching staff and the staff in the building to help us win football matches’.
Less than a month later, Martin was history at Rangers when he was sacked after having to leave the Falkirk Stadium by a side exit to avoid the fury of supporters after a 1-1 draw which left them eighth in the Premiership table, 11 points behind leaders Hearts.
The Rangers midfielder celebrates with Leandro Trossard (right) and Maxim de Cuyper (left)
Nicolas Raskin celebrates a goal for Rangers away to Falkirk in April
Raskin, in contrast, went from strength to strength. His superb performance for Belgium in their crucial 4-2 World Cup qualifying win against Wales in Cardiff at the end of October earned glowing praise and effectively cemented his place in head coach Rudi Garcia’s squad for the finals.
Back at Rangers, Raskin quickly became a key player again under Martin’s successor Danny Rohl. While the German coach’s time at Ibrox ultimately ended in failure, he was far more appreciative of Raskin’s qualities.
‘He’s my guy on the pitch when I need to make a tactical change,’ observed Rohl during the season. ‘I bring him over when I have to tell him something. I’ve supported him from the first day and we’ve trusted each other’.
Raskin was central to a run of form which saw Rangers claw their way back into title contention but was powerless to prevent the post-split collapse which left them a distant third behind Celtic and Hearts.
Signed from Standard Liege for £1.75 million in January 2023, Raskin will doubtless leave Rangers with regrets if he does move on this summer. The lack of any winners’ medals over the course of his 145 appearances for the club is a poor return.
Yet despite the tribulations he has experienced in Glasgow, there’s no doubt Raskin has benefitted personally from his time in Scottish football which has been no impediment to his emergence as a high quality international.
The World Cup has simply accelerated that development over the past few weeks. It was a slow-burning start to the tournament for both Raskin and Belgium. He appeared as a second half sub in their opening 1-1 draw against Egypt, then was taken off after starting the tame goalless draw with Iran which followed.
Raskin made his first major impression in the competition when he came off the bench to provide an assist for Romelu Lukaku’s goal in the 5-1 win over New Zealand which sealed Belgium’s progress to the knockout stage.
In their sensational last 32 clash with Senegal, Raskin helped turn the game around. He entered the fray when Belgium trailed 2-0 and looked certain to be eliminated, his drive and sense of urgency helping them force extra-time before winning 3-2.
It earned Raskin a starting place for the last 16 tie against the USA in Seattle last Friday and he rose to the occasion.
He added another assist to his collection, this time for the opener scored by Charles De Ketelaere, a prospective new club mate at Atalanta, as Belgium swatted the co-hosts aside 4-1.
Raskin battles with USA’s Christian Pulisic as the Belgian was instrumental in the victory
Raskin’s all-round performance was warmly praised by Belgium’s veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. ‘Raskin is really very prominent, a real driving force,’ said the Real Madrid star. ‘He is present in the box but is also back in his own penalty area.’
Belgium face their toughest test yet against Spain today with the European champions on a 35-match unbeaten run in all competitions and yet to concede a goal in these World Cup finals.
Raskin, though, will relish the challenge of engaging in a midfield battle with Rodri, Pedri, Dani Olmo & Co. He hasn’t looked out of place among elite company so far and this is another opportunity to prove he can cut it at the very highest level.
While Raskin attempts to extend his dream ending to a season which started in nightmare fashion, Rangers will be cranking up their asking price for a player who is now their most saleable asset by some distance.
