Youssef Chermiti Faces Long Injury Layoff After ACL Damage
Youssef Chermiti’s season has been turned on its head in the space of a few brutal seconds at Ibrox – and with it, Rangers’ early plans under Derek McInnes.
The 22-year-old striker faces a long spell out after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage in Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Hibernian, an injury that arrived just hours after the club had rejected a substantial bid for him, reported to be around £22m.
From transfer asset to treatment room
The incident itself was as ugly as it looked. Chasing a ball near the byline, Chermiti was nudged off balance following a strong challenge and crashed into the advertising boards behind Raphael Sallinger’s goal. He stayed down, writhing, then immediately raised an arm to the bench. Players know their own bodies; this was not a hopeful signal, it was a distress call.
His afternoon was over on the spot. Now, Rangers must confront the possibility that his season might be as well.
The club later confirmed via social media that the Portugal Under-21 international “will be out of action for a significant period of time”. No dressing it up. An ACL tear is one of the injuries every footballer dreads, and the wording from Ibrox left little room for optimism about a quick return.
The timing could hardly be crueller. Chermiti, who arrived from Everton in September 2025 as Rangers’ most expensive signing since Tore Andre Flo in 2000, had grown into a central figure. Fifteen goals in 43 appearances – 30 of them starts – had made him not just an investment, but a focal point.
On the very day the board turned down a sizeable offer for their No 9, their decision was followed by the sight of that same asset being helped away, his knee damaged, his future on hold.
“You don’t yank a player”
At Monday’s shareholders’ meeting, chairman Andrew Cavenagh was pressed on whether Chermiti should even have been on the pitch with transfer interest swirling.
His answer was blunt.
“Just because someone lobs an unsolicited offer in on one sheet of paper, you don’t yank a player from a really important match,” the American said.
The logic is clear enough. Rangers are trying to build, not strip, a squad for a demanding season. Resting a key striker every time a bid lands on a desk is no way to run a dressing room. Yet the brutal nature of football means that, in hindsight, every big call can look like a gamble that went wrong.
If they could turn back time, the board might at least allow themselves a moment to wonder what might have been: bank the money and wrap him in cotton wool, or reject the offer and trust the football gods. They chose the latter. The gods did not oblige.
McInnes’ early jinx?
For McInnes, still in the early days of his tenure at Ibrox, this feels like a test of both luck and leadership.
On Sunday, before kick-off, he was asked about reports that Turkish champions Galatasaray were the club behind the offer for Chermiti. His response to BBC Scotland underlined just how important the striker was to his plans.
“I’m led to believe the club’s valuation of the player hasn’t been met,” he said. “It’s no surprise that he’s a player who’s got a big (price) tag on him and he’s got high potential, but thankfully he’s our player and that will continue to be the case.
“We’re trying to build a team here at the minute and we’re trying to still bring additions to the team that helps us add to the good players that we’ve got, including Youssef. So it’s not something we would encourage at any point.”
Those words now carry a different weight. The player McInnes publicly tied into his rebuild has been removed from the picture for months. The spine he was trying to construct suddenly has a gap at centre-forward.
No wonder the manager may be starting to wonder if his start at Ibrox is cursed.
Recruitment drive – and a new priority
Cavenagh has tried to steady the mood with a promise. He told shareholders that “three to five” new faces will still be recruited. That commitment would always have been welcome to a new manager; now, it sounds essential.
Rangers may suddenly need not just reinforcements, but a new striker capable of carrying the load that Chermiti was beginning to shoulder.
The current options are unconvincing on paper and, so far, on grass. Lawrence Shankland has yet to ignite his Rangers career. Ryan Naderi has not looked like the solution to the side’s lack of goals. Bojan Miovski, a proven scorer elsewhere, remains on the books but has yet to play a competitive minute under McInnes.
Chermiti had started the last two matches, trusted to lead the line while others found form or fitness. Now the manager must rip up that plan and improvise.
Europe looms without their spearhead
There is no time to ease into this adjustment. Jagiellonia Bialystok await in Europa League qualifying, and Rangers must find a way through without the man who was supposed to be their main European weapon.
McInnes needs goals. He needs someone in his squad to step into the space Chermiti leaves behind, or the recruitment team to fill it quickly. The season will not pause for a damaged knee to heal.
Rangers chose to keep their striker and chase success with him. Now they must prove they can still do it without him.
