Nico Raskin happy to stay at Rangers ‘as long as the club wants me’

Nico Raskin is “really happy” at Rangers and has no desire to leave amid reported interest from the Premier League.

The Belgian midfielder – who scored and had a goal contentiously disallowed in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Hibernian – was Rangers’ player of the year this term and has been loosely linked with Leeds, Everton and Aston Villa.

Raskin, who moved to Ibrox from Standard Liege two and a half years ago, is under contract until 2027.

Despite Rangers’ struggles this term, the 24-year-old has been pleased with his own form and expects to be at the club next term as the Light Blues embark on a new era under their incoming American owners.

“I’ve been enjoying myself this season and it’s not so often that you can enjoy yourself in a club, so I’m really happy here,” he said.

“I’ve got two more seasons in my contract, so as long as the club wants me, I’ll be here and then we’ll see what happens.”

Raskin has enjoyed playing under interim boss Barry Ferguson, a former central midfielder, for the last 15 games of the season.

“Barry’s been great for me and my statistics can show it,” he said.

However, Rangers are expected to appoint a new manager for next season, and Raskin is hopeful that it happens sooner rather than later.

He said: “It’s going to be a big change in the summer, so who knows what’s going to happen? I don’t know.

“We need to be successful next season. We’re coming back on the 23rd of June, so it’s not that far away. We need to plan the pre-season and all this.”

Rangers, who finished the season 17 points behind champions Celtic, were aggrieved at not being awarded a goal that would have taken them 2-0 in front against Hibs on Saturday.

After Cyriel Dessers’ early strike, Raskin looked to have forced the ball over the line but it was not given and Hibs raced up the park to equalise through Kieron Bowie. Raskin’s second-half header was then cancelled out by Martin Boyle.

Rangers were told there was no conclusive evidence that the ball had crossed the line and Raskin – adamant it should have been a goal – feels the Scottish Premiership needs to implement goal-line technology.

“If this can happen in every other league, why can the Scottish league not have it?” he mused.

“It’s just not good enough when you want to get closer to the top five leagues.”

Hibs enjoyed another rousing rendition of Sunshine on Leith at the end of a season in which they finished third for the first time since 2021 and only the fourth time in the 21st century.

While they are guaranteed some form of European competition next term, they must now hope Celtic defeat Aberdeen in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final to be assured of group-stage football.

“I certainly can’t affect the outcome of that game next week,” said boss David Gray.

“I’m not going to say I won’t watch it, I will. I’ve actually got a game of golf scheduled before it which I’m looking forward to in the morning and then we’ll catch the game in the afternoon. But you can only control the controllables, what will be will be off the back of that.

“Whatever happens, I don’t want to think about anything other than praise for the group of players and the football club and everybody involved for finishing third this season because that’s an incredible achievement.”