Rangers striker Youssef Chermiti will be out of action for an extended period after suffering an ACL injury in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Hibernian at Ibrox. The 22-year-old Portuguese forward was stretchered off after an energetic challenge on Hibs midfielder Josh Mulligan. Manager Derek McInnes had planned to make Chermiti a key part of the Rangers attack alongside newly appointed club captain Lawrence Shankland, but the injury could see him miss the vast majority of the season.
A short club statement from Rangers confirmed the diagnosis: "Following assessment, striker Youssef Chermiti suffered an ACL injury in Sunday's match with Hibernian. Youssef will be out of action for a significant period of time. Everyone at Rangers is with him as he begins his recovery."
The injury comes days after Rangers rejected a club-record £22million bid from Galatasaray over the weekend. At a meeting with shareholders on Monday, Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh addressed the offer for Chermiti and explained the club's transfer stance.
Rejected Transfer Offer and Financial Strategy
"We won't ever speak about individual deals and individual players but we will give you the concepts and it will probably get you to where you want," Cavenagh said. "When we think about selling a player, there are two things that have to come together. One is that we get the value that is appropriate for the player and the second is that there is time left in the window that we can reinvest those funds quickly and efficiently to be equal or better from a sporting perspective."
Cavenagh stressed that the club was under no pressure to sell. "If both of those things don't exist, we won't do a deal," he said. "We are not under pressure to sell. That is the mentality when you think about these deals. Selling a player for a bunch of money if you can't put it back into the squad and replace him or make the squad better is useless. What we care about is winning, not the financial side of it. The sporting side has to come first for us."
Responding to comments about selecting Chermiti despite receiving a transfer offer, Cavenagh added: "Going from an offer to where a player goes out the door, there is a huge number of things that have to happen before you would pull a player out of a line-up. Just because someone lobs an unsolicited offer in on one sheet of paper, you don't yank a player from a really important match. So I don't regret that mentality at all. I am trying not to talk about the specifics of the question."
Defensive Injury and Transfer Plans
In another major early-season setback, left-back Tuur Rommens is also set for a spell on the sidelines due to a groin issue. The injury to Rommens could pave the way for Jayden Meghoma to return on loan from Brentford. Rangers are currently in talks with Brentford over a return for the young left-back, who spent last season on loan in Glasgow.
Rangers were already in the market to bolster their full-back options, with AEK Athens' James Penrice still on their radar. Ahead of tomorrow night's crunch Europa League qualifier against Jagiellonia Bialystok, the news regarding Chermiti has rocked the Ibrox club.
Chermiti's injury could have a major impact on Rangers' recruitment plans as they target as many as five more new signings before the transfer window closes. Club Brugge right-back Hugo Siquet is on their radar along with Aston Villa's Kosta Nedeljkovic, while PSV winger Couhaib Driouech is poised to complete a £7million switch to Ibrox.
