Sports
Bjornebye must sell Rangers flop who’s a “complete myth”
Glasgow Rangers have brought in Stig Inge Bjørnebye to be a football consultant and advisor ahead of the January transfer window to assist Danny Rohl and the owners.
Sky Sports reported that the former Liverpool player will assist the club for the next six months, but the final say on transfers will rest with chairman Andrew Cavenagh and vice-chairman Paraag Marathe.
They have clearly learned a lot from what went wrong in the summer transfer window, because they decided to remove sporting director Kevin Thelwell and CEO Patrick Stewart from their respective roles.
With those learnings, they must also look to previous eras at Ibrox for what not to do in a January transfer window, with Aaron Ramsey standing out as a good example of what to avoid.
Why Aaron Ramsey was a huge flop for Rangers
The Wales international arrived in a blockbuster loan from Juventus in January 2022 under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, in a move that was seen as a huge coup at the time.
As shown in the clip above, supporters and media were outside Ibrox waiting to catch a glimpse of him before the move had even been made official by either club.
Ramsey arrived at Ibrox with big expectations, as he had 369 appearances for Arsenal and 70 games for Juventus under his belt (Transfermarkt), but he failed to live up to them.
For all the technical ability that the Welshman clearly had, it just did not work out for him at Ibrox. He scored two goals and provided two assists in 13 appearances, per Transfermarkt, but there is one moment that he will forever be remembered for.
Ramsey was the only player to miss from the penalty spot in a 5-4 penalty shootout loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final in 2022, which also ended up being his last kick of the ball for the club as he was then an unused substitute for the SFA Cup final win over Hearts.
The Rangers star who is in danger of becoming the new Aaron Ramsey
Nicolas Raskin is currently in danger of becoming the new Aaron Ramsey at Ibrox because he has failed to live up to the expectations that his own performances set.
The Belgium international scored five goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore, and his impressive form attracted interest from elsewhere.
Wolves, Aston Villa, and Leeds United were all linked with an interest in the central midfielder, who was touted for a £25m switch, but he ended up staying in Glasgow.
Like Ramsey’s time at Arsenal and Juventus set high expectations for his spell with Rangers, Raskin’s performances last season for the Gers meant that expectations were high heading into the 2025/26 campaign.
Unfortunately, he has been unable to live up to them so far and Bjørnebye should look to ruthlessly cash in on the central midfielder, assisting Marathe and Cavanagh.
After the 2-1 defeat to Hearts on Sunday, Scottish writer Michael McEwan described Raskin as “a complete myth” and stated that he got “bullied” in the middle of the park. Gers journalist Jonny McFarlane also said that the midfielder has been “really poor” and that Cammy Devlin “dominated” him.
His all-round performances in the Scottish Premiership this season back up the notion that he has regressed and been ‘poor’ in comparison to the 2024/25 campaign.
|
Raskin (Premiership) |
24/25 |
25/26 |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
33 |
15 |
|
Goals |
4 |
1 |
|
Assists |
10 |
3 |
|
Dribble success rate |
68% |
48% |
|
Tackles + interceptions per game |
3.4 |
2.6 |
|
Duels won per game |
6.6 |
6.2 |
|
Possession lost per game |
10.3 |
11.7 |
|
Fouls per game |
1.5 |
1.7 |
As you can see in the table above, Raskin has been worse in and out of possession in the middle of the park for the Ibrox giants in the Premiership this term.
The Belgian midfielder’s drop-off in form coinciding with the weight of expectation on his shoulders after his impressive form last season is similar to how Ramsey failed to live up to the hype that came with his high-profile arrival in 2022.
Unlike Ramsey, though, Raskin is not a loan player and Spurs were linked with an interest in him earlier this month, which suggests that they have an opportunity to cash in on him next month.
That is why Bjørnebye must cash in on the midfield flop because if his regression on the pitch continues, his value may drop as clubs notice a drop-off in his performance level, making January the perfect time to sell him.
Ibrox flop who was as bad as Butland has shown where Rangers need to spend
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