The most valuable player at Rangers revealed

It looked for all the world that Nicolas Raskin would be the next marquee sale from Glasgow Rangers, the Belgian heavily linked with an exit throughout the summer window.

Bolstered by a standout World Cup, clubs were circling for his signature, yet a string of European deadlines have since come and gone, with the 25-year-old remaining a Rangers player.

That is certainly to the benefit of Derek McInnes‘ side, with Raskin’s return to the fold already coinciding with a change in fortunes for the experienced coach.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

Whether the midfielder, or other members of the squad at Ibrox, stick around for the long-term remains to be seen, however, with there still the question as to whether anyone can fetch a bigger fee than that of former Gers star, Calvin Bassey.

How Bassey and Rangers’ biggest sales have fared after leaving

In terms of modern recruitment in Glasgow, few signings have proven quite as fruitful as that of Bassey, the Nigerian joining from Leicester City’s youth ranks for a bargain fee of just £230k in 2020.

By 2022, he’d been a central part of the team which reached the Europa League final, claiming the Man of the Match award in the showpiece, having subsequently been sold to Ajax for what remains a club-record fee of £19.6m.

The defender’s time in Amsterdam proved short-lived, yet he is now a regular fixture in the Premier League for Fulham, emerging as a standout figure for his country too.

He’s enjoyed a solid career since leaving Ibrox, although it’s not been the same for everyone, with £11.5m man, Nathan Patterson, enduring a wretched spell at Everton, prior to joining Serie A side Torino this summer.

As for Hamza Igamane, his bright start at Lille last season was cut short by an ACL injury, the Moroccan having not featured for the Ligue 1 outfit since December.

In terms of other notable, high-profile sales of recent years, Joe Aribo is currently a free agent following his exit from Southampton, having previously been shipped out on loan to a Leicester City side that suffered a drop into the third tier last season.

Moving on hasn’t been particularly fruitful for everyone, it must be said, with Raskin, and others, perhaps needing to take note.

Rangers’ new Bassey is now the most valuable player at Ibrox

Regardless of when Raskin does eventually leave the club, the Light Blues do look set to make a significant profit considering the nature of their initial £1.7m investment.

Even with just under two years now left on his existing deal, the former Standard Liege man is likely to fetch far more than that, having been touted at around £20m in the past.

In terms of his actual market value, Transfermarkt estimates that the polarising midfielder is actually worth closer to €17m (£15m), a figure that would still mark a major rise on his initial price tag.

He’s arguably the headline name in McInnes’ squad right now, or at least the most high-profile figure, but in terms of being the most valuable player, that honour belongs to Emmanuel Fernandez.

The towering centre-back has had his issues in a Rangers shirt, it’s fair to say, not least when putting in an error-strewn display away at Falkirk only recently.

He’s certainly not been perfect, but there’s clearly a real talent there to be honed and nurtured, with the 6 foot 5 defender looking like such a bargain in his own right.

Plucked from League One side Peterborough United on a £3.5m deal last summer, Fernandez, like Bassey, was another relatively unknown arrival on the cheap from south of the border.

His status, again like Bassey, has certainly been enhanced since then, however, even while having endured a slow start to last season under Russell Martin’s watch.

By the end of 2025/26, he’d proven to be a mainstay in Danny Rohl’s side, scoring six times in all competitions after proving such a handful in both boxes.

He’s far from the finished article, of course, yet rival clubs are beginning to sit up and take notice, with Arsenal and Chelsea believed to be among his admirers.

There was even talk of a mega-money move to Bayer Leverkusen at one stage, with a £30m-£40m price tag mooted, although Fernandez has stayed put to remain a central part of McInnes’ new-look side.

Now a colleague of Bassey too at international level, it really has been a rapid ascent for a player who had largely been operating in England’s third tier previously, with a future, bumper sale surely on the cards.

Even if Rangers don’t receive a fee close to that £30m mark, there’s still the likelihood of a major profit being made in any case, with Transfermarkt deeming his actual market value to be €18m (£16m).

Fernandez will need to showcase greater levels of consistency if he is to follow in Bassey’s footsteps later down the line, but in any case, he’s certainly on the right path as things stand.