Sunday was an absolutely sickening afternoon for all of a Rangers persuasion, with the Ibrox side defeated by fierce rivals Celtic in the League Cup Final in the most heartbreaking fashion imaginable.
Fair to say Glasgow’s big two served up a thriller.
Nedim Bajrami fired the Light Blues in front on the cusp of half-time at Hampden, only for Celtic to lead 2-1 and then 3-2 in the second half, but Mohamed Diomande and then Danilo hit back, the latter with a towering header mere moments after his team had fallen behind.
This forced extra time and, ultimately, a penalty shootout; just the second shootout in Glasgow derby history.
Nine of the ten spot-kicks were scored, but somebody had to miss and that someone turned out to be Ridvan Yilmaz, his tame attempt saved by Kasper Schmeichel, meaning it was Celtic who once again hoisted aloft the trophy.
From Philippe Clement’s point-of-view, he is still yet to beat Celtic in six attempts, but there are certainly signs his team are moving in the right direction, making the next Premiership Old Firm fixture at Ibrox as soon as 2 January so crucial.
Rangers players starting to show their best
Of course, Sunday’s shootout defeat was devastating, but it was another sign of progress from Rangers.
Three days earlier, they’d held Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw in the Europa League, unfortunate not to win that one, having scored nine goals across back-to-back Premiership victories against Kilmarnock and Ross County beforehand.
A key factor behind the Gers’ recent resurgence has been the emergence of Hamza Igamane.
The striker arrived from AS FAR in his native Morocco for £2.5m last summer, having minimal impact before opening his account against FCSB in late October, before scoring five in five between 28 November and 12 December, bagging a brace against Nice, before breaking the deadlock when Spurs visited Govan last Thursday.
Ianis Hagi’s return has also attracted a lot of attention, starting each of the last four domestic fixtures, registering a pair of assists during the demolition of Killie earlier this month.
This season’s top-scorer Vaclav Cerny, who has nine goals to his name, has also earned wide-spread praise, but there’s another Rangers player, who’s perhaps going under the radar, that could prove to be the squad’s most valuable asset.
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Rangers next big sale could be inbound
Nicolas Raskin arrived at Rangers from Standard Liège for £1.75m back in January 2023, making 67 appearances in Light Blue to date, his only goal for the club, so far, came during a 4-0 demolition of Hibs in October last year.
According to Sofascore, the Belgian is only Rangers’ joint-seventh highest-rated player this season, albeit he’s been rated 7 or higher in three of his last four Europa League appearances, as well as for each of his last seven Premiership outings.
Raskin is clearly a man in form, so could he command a massive fee, should he depart Glasgow in 2025?
Calvin Bassey
£22.7m
£230,000
Nathan Patterson
£16m
£0 (academy)
Joe Aribo
£10m
£300,000
Glen Kamara
£5m
£50,000
Fashion Sakala
£4m
Free
Antonio Čolak
£2.5m
£1.8m
As you can see, since Rangers returned to the Scottish Premiership in 2016, they have sold just six players for £2.5m or more, with Calvin Bassey, Nathan Patterson and Joe Arbo the only men departing for at least £10m.
During the same period, for context, Celtic have sold seven players for £10m+: Matt O’Riley, Jota, Kieran Tierney, Moussa Dembélé, Odsonne Édouard, Kristoffer Ajer and Jeremie Frimpong departing for a combined £138.5m.
If Rangers want to compete with their cross-city rivals, something Clement says they currently are unable to do financially, they need to start selling players for huge profits.
Key players from the Steven Gerrard title-winning campaign such as Borna Barišić, Connor Goldson, Ryan Kent, and Alfredo Morelos have all been allowed to depart for free, or for minimal fees, which simply isn’t allowing the Gers to reinvest.
So, they need to find those players and perhaps Raskin could be the man for the job. Rangers legend Kris Boyd labelled Raskin as “unbelievable” against Tottenham last week, adding that “it was his best performance for Rangers”.
The stats certainly told a pleasant story. Against elite midfielders such as James Maddison and Rodrigo Bentancur, the 23-year-old registered the most touches (76) and the most passes (49) of any Gers player, showcasing what a talent he is. As Glasgow World reporter Lewis Anderson stated, he was the ‘best player on the park against Tottenham’.
His stock continues to rise, so could he depart for a gigantic profit?
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