Besiktas came back one last time on Thursday and Rangers said no again. Nicolas Raskin is still an Ibrox player after the Scottish deadline passed, though the Turkish window does not shut until midnight on Friday.
The Belgian midfielder has been the subject of two approaches inside three days. On Wednesday, Besiktas tried a loan with an option to buy. Rangers turned that down without much deliberation, which tells you how they feel about losing a first-team midfielder in the last 48 hours of a window.
Thursday brought a straight transfer offer. That one was rejected too, on the same grounds. It did not get near the valuation Rangers have put on him.
The clock has not fully run out
Here is the awkward bit for anyone at Ibrox hoping this is over. Scotland's window closed on Thursday. Turkey's does not close until midnight on Friday, which means Besiktas can keep making calls for another day while Rangers can no longer sign a replacement.
That asymmetry is the whole problem. Selling now would leave Derek McInnes a midfielder short with no route to fixing it until January. Any bid that arrives on Friday has to be big enough to make that pain worth it, and Besiktas have not shown they are willing to go there.
What Raskin means to this Rangers side
He is not a luxury player. Raskin does the unglamorous work in front of the back four, breaks up play, and moves the ball forward quickly enough to matter. Take him out and the balance of the midfield changes immediately.
Rangers have already had a busy few days at the other end of the pipeline, chasing wingers and working through a list of exits. Losing Raskin on top of that would have been a genuine setback rather than an inconvenience.
Where this leaves everyone
- Raskin stays at Ibrox unless Besiktas dramatically improve their offer before Friday midnight
- Rangers cannot replace him if he goes, since the Scottish window has shut
- The player himself has not publicly pushed for a move
Windows like this one rarely end cleanly. Rangers have held their line so far and the most likely outcome now is that Raskin reports back for training on Monday and nobody mentions Istanbul again until the winter.
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