Glasgow Rangers central midfielder Nicolas Raskin dominated the headlines for the right reason last weekend when he scored in the League Cup win at Ibrox.
The Belgium international had been left out of the last two matchday squads in the Scottish Premiership, but returned to score the opening goal in front of the home supporters on Saturday.
Raskin met James Tavernier’s corner brilliantly to head the ball into the back of the net for the first of what will, hopefully, be many goals this season.
Why Nicolas Raskin is a key player for Rangers
Russell Martin needed to get the central midfielder back into the squad as quickly as possible after the manager claimed that a breakdown in trust led to the player being left out of the clashes with Celtic and Hearts.
The Belgian star is a terrific operator in the middle of the park because he can deliver quality at both ends of the pitch, having scored five goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions last season, per Sofascore.
Appearances
33
12
Tackles per game
2.8
3.7
Interceptions per game
0.6
1.3
Ball recoveries per game
5.6
7.4
Ground duel success rate
57%
50%
Aerial duel success rate
56%
55%
As you can see in the table above, Raskin was particularly impressive when it came to the defensive side of the game in the 2024/25 campaign, with his ability to disrupt attacks and win possession back for his side.
Despite the Belgium international’s quality in the middle of the park, it is Djeidi Gassama who has the potential to be the club’s best player this season.
Why Gassama could be the best player for Rangers this season
The Light Blues signed the electric winger from Sheffield Wednesday for a fee of £2.2m in the summer transfer window, and he has already shown plenty of promise on the pitch.
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Gassama has delivered four goals and one assist in 12 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants, per Transfermarkt, showing that he can provide a big threat in the final third.
The clip above shows that Rangers signed a player who they knew was capable of “glorious” goals from the left flank, cutting in to create something out of nothing.
Gassama has already shown that he can score glorious goals for Rangers, as his first strike for the club against Panathinaikos was very similar to that goal for the Owls.
The 22-year-old magician has the quality to simply create something out of nothing when the Light Blues need a moment of magic, which is an incredibly valuable trait to have.
Gassama has yet to score in five matches in the Scottish Premiership, unfortunately, but he has been in a side that has struggled to progress the ball. As much as he can provide quality out of very little, the winger still needs to get the ball to his feet out wide to isolate his man.
If Martin can get the system and the starting XI right, the former Sheffield Wednesday winger could deliver consistent quality out wide with his impressive dribbling ability and ball striking.
That could make him a real difference-maker, as he was in the Champions League qualifiers with four goals in six games, for the Gers moving forward this season.
Therefore, Gassama could be the club’s best player because of his ability to win games on his own with his goalscoring and creating potential, but it is down to the manager to put him in a position to exceed and shine brighter than the likes of Raskin and Bojan Miovski.