Nico Raskin earns swooning review as Rangers mate showered in love amid £5m transfer exit push
The 24-year-old capped off the best season of his career with a game-changing cameo in the 4-3 win over Wales
Beaming Rudi Garcia has waxed lyrical about game-changing Nico Raskin after the Rangers star once again made a telling impact for his national team.
The 24-year-old capped off the best season of his career with a game-changing cameo in the 4-3 win over Wales as he helped re-address the balance after the Red Devils coughed up a 3-0 lead in Brussels.
Raskin was a surprise omission from the starting XI but made the most of his 15-minute cameo with the game all square before Kevin De Bruyne broke Welsh hearts.
The Ibrox star – expected to garner serious transfer interest this summer with two years left on his deal – once again received a glowing appraisal from Garcia.
The Belgium boss, speaking on a raft of changes during the game, said: "It didn't prove me right at first, but it was better afterwards. The two periods of change were important, by the way (Nicolas Raskin then Alexis Saelemaekers). It's positive because the players proved they could move forward.
"Nicolas Raskin's entry (in place of Dodi Lukebakio, who had already come on) was important because we needed fighters on the pitch. Jeremy Doku? He was the catalyst. He's reached a high level in the last two matches."
And even when saluting national icon De Bruyne, Garcia couldn't help but once again lavish praise on Raskin and his telling impact in the closing stages of a vital World Cup qualifying win.
He added: "It's symbolic Kevin De Bruyne ultimately scored the fourth. Nicolas Raskin 's return helped us get back in control of the game. He stabilised the team, and Alexis Saelemaekers, who can do a bit of everything, helped us finish well."
Meanwhile, Cyriel Dessers parked frenzied speculation surrounding his own future as he married sweetheart Rosalie de Ruysscher in Italy over the weekend.
That would be a £500k profit on the Nigeria international under Michael Beale after he was signed from Cremonese in the summer of 2023.
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