Rangers are already finding out how quickly a summer rebuild can turn from theory into hard decisions.
Nicolas Raskin has become the centre of that shift. The Belgium midfielder’s World Cup profile, reported Atalanta interest and Andy Halliday’s sell-to-buy argument have combined to create an immediate question for Derek McInnes: is Raskin the player to build around, or the asset who can fund the next version of the team?
The raw update is simple enough. Halliday has argued that Rangers should consider selling Raskin and using the money to pursue Bologna captain Lewis Ferguson, with The Scottish Sun reporting his transfer case as McInnes starts work at Ibrox. But the bigger issue is not one pundit’s view. It is what this moment says about Rangers’ recruitment priorities.
Raskin is now more than a midfield selection call
Raskin has long looked like one of Rangers’ most saleable players because he sits in that valuable middle ground: experienced enough to be trusted, young enough to carry resale value, and now visible enough internationally to attract wider attention.
That matters because McInnes has inherited a squad that needs clarity as much as talent. ReadRangers has already looked at how Raskin’s transfer uncertainty gives Rangers a live summer problem, and the issue has only sharpened now that Halliday has put a name to the possible replacement.
Atalanta interest, reported in Italy and amplified through the Scottish transfer cycle, changes the tone. Raskin is not simply a player who might be admired. He is a player whose value could plausibly move if a Serie A club decide to formalise their pursuit.
Ferguson would fit the McInnes logic, but the cost is the catch
Halliday’s Lewis Ferguson argument is persuasive in one obvious way. Ferguson has leadership, Scottish football grounding, Serie A credibility and the temperament profile McInnes is likely to value. If Rangers want more certainty and edge in the middle of the pitch, Ferguson is the sort of player who instantly changes the dressing-room temperature.
The catch is whether Rangers can afford that kind of move without selling someone significant. Bologna are under no obligation to make life easy, and Ferguson’s standing in Italy means this would not be a romantic return on favourable terms.
That is why Raskin sits at the centre of the debate. If Rangers keep him, McInnes retains one of the squad’s strongest midfielders and buys time to assess him properly. If they sell him at a premium, the club can reshape the midfield around a different personality and maybe solve two recruitment problems at once.
The risk is obvious. Selling a player because his value is high can be smart, but only if the replacement raises the team’s floor immediately. Rangers have had too many summers where churn has looked like progress in June and felt like confusion by September.
McInnes needs a rule before he needs a fee
This is why the decision should not start with the number. It should start with the rule McInnes wants his rebuild to follow.
If the new manager wants a side built around proven authority, domestic knowledge and lower volatility, then Ferguson makes sense as a symbolic first move. That would also line up with the broader reset already explored in the Rangers rebuild around McInnes and Stig Inge Bjornebye.
If, instead, Rangers want to protect their strongest technical assets and add around them, Raskin should be treated as part of the solution rather than the bank account. In that scenario, reported Atalanta interest should be used to frame a new valuation, not to rush the exit door.
The first real McInnes deadline may still be pre-season, with the West Ham friendly already giving Rangers a useful early marker. But the Raskin question is the first strategic test. Rangers do not just need to decide whether one midfielder stays or goes. They need to decide what kind of rebuild they are actually prepared to back.
That is why Halliday’s argument has landed. It is not because selling Raskin is automatically right. It is because the debate forces Rangers to choose between value, identity and immediacy before the market chooses for them.
