Let's prattle a bit about Nicolas Raskin, a footballer who presumably derives some pleasure from routinely hoofing a synthetic sphere about various pitches in Scotland and Belgium. His date and place of birth remain a mystery, a tantalising enigma, which surely must add a certain mystique and charm to his persona. But, hey, we're not here for existential debates on birthplaces.
A well-travelled chap, Raskin first popped up on the radar in 2017, making his grand entrance at Gent in the Belgian Pro League. He swiftly secured his place in the annals of club history by making one entire appearance in his debut season – someone grab the champagne.
Then, according to Transfermarkt, our hero switched allegiance to Standard Liege in January 2019 for a fee deftly concealed from the prying eyes of the public. In his tenure at Liege, Raskin pulled boots on at least twice in the 2019 - 2020 season, sent the ball past the goal line once in each of the 2020 - 2021, 2021 - 2022, and 2022 - 2023 seasons, while adorning the pitch 29 times in the former two and 17 times in the latter.
In mid-January, 2023, the prodigious Raskin loaded his kit bag onto a plane bound for Scotland's Premiership, signed for Rangers with the rather modest sum of around £1.5m exchanged. Since donning the Rangers jersey, Raskin has made 12 appearances in the 2022 - 2023 season and pumped one beyond the goalie in the following season having graced the field 18 times. In the current 2024 -2025 season, he has shown his face on the pitch twice. Shocking!
Despite now toiling for a team that occasionally shares the Old Firm epithet with our beloved Celtic – perchance you've heard of the club – don't hold your breath expecting a detailed dissection of his Celtic contributions, as our man Raskin spent no more than a fortnight on our hallowed turf. Aye, so it goes.
