Rangers have been dealt a major setback after Youssef Chermiti sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage in Sunday's 2-1 home defeat to Hibernian, with the club now facing a significant period without the 22-year-old forward.
Chermiti was taken off on a stretcher before half-time after the injury, and that alone made it clear the issue was serious. On Monday, Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh addressed the situation at the shareholders' meeting, where he said the club would not simply remove a player from an important match because of an unsolicited offer.
“Just because someone lobs an unsolicited offer in on one sheet of paper, you don't yank a player from a really important match,” Cavenagh said.
That comment came against a backdrop of growing interest around Chermiti. Reports before kick-off on Sunday linked Turkish champions Galatasaray with interest in the Portuguese centre forward, who was capped at under-21 level by Portugal. also said Rangers reportedly became Chermiti's most expensive purchase since Tore Andre Flo in 2000 when he arrived at Ibrox from Everton in September 2025.
What Chermiti has meant to Rangers
Chermiti's injury is significant not just because of the timing, but because of the role he has already carved out since his move. The 22-year-old has made 43 Rangers appearances, including 30 starts, and scored 15 goals. That is a useful return for a young striker still settling into a new club, and it helps explain why Rangers were so keen to keep him involved despite outside interest.
Derek McInnes made it clear before the injury that Rangers believed the player's valuation had not been matched by any interest. “I'm led to believe the club's valuation of the player hasn't been met,” he said. He also added: “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.”
McInnes also stressed the club's wider aim of building the squad rather than weakening it. “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,” he said. “So it's not something we would encourage at any point.”
For Rangers, the immediate issue is straightforward: Chermiti is out for a significant period, and the attack now has to adjust without a striker who had become an important part of the group. The club has not given a recovery timeline beyond that broad update, but an ACL injury usually shifts attention quickly from short-term selection to longer-term squad planning.
That makes the next phase important for Rangers. They have already lost a forward with clear upside and established output, and they now have to cover his absence while keeping the rest of the attack functioning. However the squad reshapes itself, Chermiti's injury changes the picture at Ibrox right away.
