SMILING Nicolas Raskin was buzzing to score his first Belgium goal in last night’s World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan.
But the midfield ace admits his focus is now sorting out his ‘complicated’ situation at Rangers.
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Raskin, 24, headed-off on international duty on the back of a dramatic turn of events at Ibrox.
Last season’s key man for the Light Blues, he found himself bombed out of the squad by boss Russell Martin for the Old Firm match a week past Sunday.
As his teammates did battle in the first derby of the season against Celtic, Raskin was at home watching on television.
Many fans expected the Rangers team to be built around Raskin this season but instead he’s found himself in and out of the starting XI under new head coach Martin.
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Against the Hoops, he was nowhere to be seen at all.
Martin told Raskin he’d be playing no part in the fixture 48 hours beforehand – with SunSport understanding that the huge call had the backing of senior figures within the squad.
It’s believed the decision came about due to Raskin’s conduct behind the scenes.
A day before news of the huge call emerged, Raskin’s DAD had taken aim at Martin in a now deleted social media post.
Martin would however insist that there had been NO breakdown in the relationship between himself and the player.
The situation led to plenty of speculation Raskin could make an exit from Ibrox before last Monday night’s transfer deadline.
Two interested parties made tentative enquiries but no deal was forthcoming.
Instead, Raskin has remained a Rangers player and is now expected to hold clear the air talks with Martin upon his return from international duty.
Now for the first time, the former Standard Liege man himself has broken his silence on the situation at Ibrox.
Speaking after scoring his first Belgium goal in their 6-0 win over Kazakhstan, Raskin admitted the situation was ‘complicated.’
However, with some windows around Europe still open, he RULED OUT any transfer.
Instead, Raskin vowed to do his best to resolve the situation with Martin upon his return to the club.
Raskin said: “My situation at the club is a bit complicated.
“I’m going to go back, do the best I can to sort it out, get some playing time.
“But it doesn’t just depend on me, it depends on the coach, the club.
“I’ll do my best because I know this is an important year and I absolutely want to be part of this campaign with Belgium.”
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He continued: “That’s football, there are ups and downs.
“The truth is, I love this club so much, I’ve had some wonderful times here, and I have a great relationship with the fans.
“I try to give back to them as much as I can. I still hope we can find a solution. A transfer? No, that’s out of the question
“A transfer? No, that’s out of the question. I want to continue to resolve this at the club.”
Raskin will now return to Rangers ahead of the resumption of domestic action this weekend.
The Gers welcome in-form Hearts to Ibrox on Saturday still looking for a first league win of the season under Martin.
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Rangers sit in 7th spot having drawn all four Premiership matches so far.
They currently trail both Derek McInnes’ Jambos and rivals Celtic by six points with both of those sides having taken 10 points from a possible 12 so far.
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