Rangers Sign Winger Minsu Kim from Girona for £8.5m

Rangers have landed winger Minsu Kim from Girona in an £8.5m deal, adding another bold stroke to a frantic summer rebuild at Ibrox.

The 20-year-old South Korea international has signed an initial four-year contract, with Rangers holding an option for a further 12 months, as the club leans hard into youth, energy and resale value.

He becomes Rangers’ 12th signing of the window, and he might not be the last. A £9.2m agreement is already in place with Portland Timbers for striker Kevin Kelsy, with that move expected to be completed before the transfer deadline on 3 September.

Kim’s rapid rise

Kim arrives with a growing reputation rather than a bulging CV, but his trajectory is sharp.

He joined Girona in 2022 and first caught the eye in their B team. By October 2024 he had broken into La Liga, making his top-flight debut before stepping onto the Champions League stage the following month. That taste of elite-level football was followed by a productive loan spell at La Liga 2 side Andorra last season, where he scored six goals and supplied four assists.

Now he swaps Catalonia for Glasgow and a very different kind of pressure.

"I'm so happy to sign for Rangers. I know it's a big club with great, great fans," Kim said. "I want to help the team to be better every day, to be a good person, and to do everything I can to help the team win everything that comes our way.

"I have a lot of excitement and I believe I have the mentality of a winner. I want to face whatever comes next head-on and I'm going to give the club what it deserves."

Manager Derek McInnes believes he has secured exactly the profile he wanted.

"We are delighted to welcome Minsu to Rangers. Strengthening our options in the forward areas has been a real target and focus for us throughout this window, and we believe he will add another exciting dimension to the squad.

"Minsu is a talented young player with excellent technical ability, energy and a real desire to develop, and we are looking forward to working with him."

Kim has not been registered in Rangers’ Conference League squad for the play-off second leg against Jablonec, so his first appearance is likely to come at Pittodrie. A potential debut at Aberdeen on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, would throw him straight into one of Scottish football’s most unforgiving fixtures.

Raskin left at home as interest grows

While one door opens, another may be about to close.

Nicolas Raskin has not travelled to the Czech Republic for the second leg against Jablonec, with McInnes confirming the midfielder’s absence is driven by mounting transfer interest rather than injury.

Clubs across Europe and England are circling. Atalanta and Real Betis have already been credited with interest earlier in the window, and it is understood sides from Spain, Italy, France and England are now in the mix for the 25-year-old Belgium international, who has two years left on his Ibrox deal.

"Nico hasn't travelled. Nothing to do with injury or anything like that, just the potential of a transfer, potentially," McInnes said. "I just think we're so late in the window, maybe it's something the club's looking at. He's trained this morning but has been left back in Glasgow.

"When I came into the job, it was quite clear that there was going to be an opportunity for Nico. There's been plenty of interest in him. We believe that interest has stepped up over the last couple of days, so something may or may not happen.

"If Nico stays beyond the window, then it would be great to work with him. But if he doesn't, we wish him well."

Rangers hold a 1-0 advantage heading into the Jablonec tie, with a place in the Conference League proper on the line. They must now protect that lead without one of their key midfielders, all while the market swirls around him.

Asked if Raskin’s departure would force another midfield signing, despite three additions already in that area this summer, McInnes kept his cards close.

"In certain areas of the pitch, we're a bit stronger than others. I think everything moves on.

"Nico served the club well. There's obviously an opportunity for him and the club to capitalise on that for a transfer fee. I don't really want to say too much about Nico at the minute until, if and when, something happens.

"It's still an if rather than a certainty. So maybe we can comment a bit more on that if something happens."

For now, Rangers stand on a knife-edge: a European place to secure, a core midfielder in limbo, and a new winger ready to step into the noise of Ibrox. How quickly Minsu Kim settles could say plenty about where this reshaped squad is heading.