Derek McInnes’ first task as Rangers boss may be to decide if he wants to fight to fend off Atalanta’s interest in Nico Raskin.
The Ibrox midfielder is currently in the US with Belgium’s World Cup squad. But sources in Italy say new Atalanta boss Maurizio Sarri is keen to take the 25-year-old to Serie A. Raskin till has two years left on his Gers contract but there is a feeling at the club that this summer could be the right time to part ways, especially if he can show up well in the tournament shop window.
The final call on that one, however, will be left to incoming gaffer McInnes. Raskin cost Gers just over £1million when he joined in January 2023 but Ibrox chairman Andrew Cavenagh will be hoping to make more than 10 times that figure if the former Standard Liege star can impress across the Pond this summer.
Raskin started the Red Devils’ opener with Egypt on Monday night on the bench. But it was his second-half introduction that helped Rudi Garcia’s side turn the game around after Emam Ashour’s strike put the Pharaohs ahead.
A Mohamed Hany own goal levelled the game in Seattle but Belgium would have won had Romelu Lukaku not fluffed a golden chance to head home from Raskin’s pin-point cross late on.
The decision on the Ibrox playmaker’s future will be one of the first matters to be addressed once McInnes takes up his new gig.
The ex-Hearts gaffer will be unveiled as the 22nd man to manage Gers later this week. He will replace Danny Rohl, who is set to join Red Bull Salzburg for £2million. The announcement is being held up by trickier-than-expected talks with the Austrians over Rohl’s backroom team of Matthias Kaltenbach and Sascha Lense.
However, both sides expect to come to an agreement soon, paving the way for McInnes to return to the club he grew up supporting and served as a player.
Salzburg are hoping to get the green light from Ibrox to announce Rohl’s appointment sharpish. The Austrian Bundesliga outfit are due to return to pre-season training at 11am this morning.
But as things stand, they have only one first-team coach on the payroll who is available to put the players through their paces.
Rohl has already suffered a major blow ahead of taking over afterSalzburg captain Mads Bidstrup quit to join Lyon.
The key midfielder opted to move to France in a £10m deal rather than stay and be part of any revolution under the German gaffer.
Bidstrup, 25, only signed a new contract last year but has decided to move to the Ligue 1 side. The Dane – who spent three-years at Brentford until 2023 – admitted after Salzburg’s last game of the season that he was likely to leave.