Rangers did “come close” to recruiting Standard Liege midfielder Nicolas Raskin before the transfer window shut, according to journalist Sacha Tavolieri.

The Belgian reporter claims that the Scottish club had gone as far as offering the player a four-year contract before the deal was aborted after it emerged that Glen Kamara wouldn’t be leaving the club:

🔴❌Nicolas #Raskin a été proche de rejoindre les #RangersFC. Priorité de Ross Wilson, les écossais offraient un contrat écrit de 4 ans. Une offre devait arriver cet après-midi sur la table des dirigeants liégeois en cas de départ (avorté) de Glen #Kamara… #RSCL

— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) September 1, 2022

Reports emerged about Rangers’ interest in signing Raskin last week, with Liege reportedly holding out for a fee in the region of €5.5m (£4.7m).

From the sound of things, it seems clear that Director of Football Ross Wilson was fully anticipating that Kamara would be departing Ibrox.

Ligue One side Nice were said to be keen on snapping up the Finnish international, with a bid worth up to £10m being planned, but it is believed that the club made a u-turn on deadline day to focus on other transfer targets instead. It meant that Raskin was no longer needed once it was known that Kamara wasn’t going anywhere.