Rangers respond to Nicolas Raskin loan approach amid conflicting reports

Rangers have rejected a loan offer for Nicolas Raskin from Besiktas - despite claims that a deal had already been agreed between the two clubs.

The Belgian midfielder has been left out of the Rangers squad for the past two matches amid ongoing transfer interest.

Rangers were expected to cash in on the 25-year-old before the transfer deadline on the back of impressive performances for Belgium at the World Cup but the transfer deadline for the big European leagues passed on Tuesday.

Rangers midfielder Nicolas Raskin. | SNS Group

In a surprise development, reports emerged on Wednesday that a verbal agreement had been reached between Rangers and Besiktas over a loan move including an option to buy, with only personal terms left to negotiate.

But, in a further twist, it has now been widely reported that Rangers have, in fact, rejected the approach from the Istanbul outfit, which included a significant up front loan fee.

While clubs in Turkey have until midnight on Friday to sign players for their domestic league, Besiktas would need Raskin signed before 11pm on Wednesday to include him in their Europa League squad.

Besiktas are due to travel to Glasgow to face Celtic in the league phase on November 5.

Rangers have been interested in signing former loan winger Vaclav Cerny from Besiktas this summer, but the negotiations for Raskin are not believed to involve a potential swap deal for the Czech winger to head in the opposite direction.

Speaking about Raskin's situation earlier this week, Rangers manager Derek McInnes told Sky Sports: “Nico’s been first-class since he came back from the World Cup, he’s been good as gold, he’s trained brilliantly.

“Obviously there’s been a lot of chat about potential interest and there’s been a lot of conversations had with the club and prospective buyers. But until an offer comes in that the club need to consider, Nico just has to knuckle down and train.

“I’ve no doubts that if the window closes and Nico’s still a Rangers player, he’ll give brilliant service as he’s done previously. He’s getting interest because he’s a good player. I want to work with good players. We just need to wait and see how things develop.”