Rangers' Injury Crisis: McInnes on Chermiti and Defensive Concerns

Derek McInnes admits Rangers are “playing with fire” at the back and scrambling for a new No 9 after a brutal injury double hit their season plans.

The manager confirmed that striker Youssef Chermiti faces a long spell out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury picked up in Saturday’s defeat by Hibernian – an incident that came just days after a sizeable bid for the 22-year-old was knocked back. Galatasaray have been linked with the Portugal Under-21 forward, but any move is now on ice while the player prepares to see a specialist in London, with surgery likely next week.

The timing could hardly be worse. Chermiti was central to McInnes’ blueprint for the campaign.

“Selfishly, he's a big part of what we wanted to do this season and he's obviously a talented boy,” McInnes said, reflecting on the blow. For the player himself, still only 22, the scale of the setback will take time to sink in.

The one small consolation for Rangers? The injury has arrived while the transfer window is still open.

“The only saving grace from our point of view as a club is the fact it's happened in a transfer window and we've got the opportunity to react to that,” McInnes admitted. The club had rejected what was described as a “big number” for Chermiti before his injury, but that saga is now redundant. “It's neither here nor there now, to be honest. It's done.”

What is very much live is the hunt for a replacement. McInnes made it clear Rangers are already scouring the market.

“We are obviously looking at maybe strengthening that area of the pitch,” he said. “We're trying to be quite proactive with that and seeing what is available. Number nines are normally the most difficult ones to get.”

Defensive concerns and a growing injury list

Chermiti is not the only casualty from the Hibs defeat. Left-back Tuur Rommens has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a groin problem, leaving Rangers exposed in an area McInnes already viewed as light.

“We don't have a left-footed defender in the building,” he stressed. “We're keen to try and get that resolved as quickly as possible.

“With the numbers we've got there, we are kind of playing with fire. Defensively, it's always been a bit of a concern. I always thought we were short of numbers there.”

That concern now sits alongside a demanding European schedule. Rangers trail Jagiellonia Bialystok 2-1 from the first leg of their Europa League third-round qualifier and must turn the tie around at home on Thursday. They will do so without Chermiti and Rommens, while McInnes pushes the club to move “really swiftly” in the market to ease the strain.

“Strengthening defensively and in wide areas was the priority,” he said. Those priorities have now hardened into necessities.

Wingers targeted as recruitment drive intensifies

The recruitment focus is not just on a striker and left-back. McInnes also wants more threat out wide.

“We're trying to bring wingers in,” he confirmed. “It's in the hands of the recruitment team to try and get that over the line. Nothing's been finalised with anything yet.”

Brentford left-back Jayden Meghoma, who spent last season on loan at Ibrox, has been linked with a return, this time for a second temporary spell. On the flanks, PSV Eindhoven winger Couhaib Driouech has been heavily touted for a permanent move.

Asked specifically about Driouech, McInnes acknowledged that talks had progressed.

“We've been linked with a lot of players,” he said. “That one's gained a bit of momentum and we are quite far down the line with that but I don't know where it's at currently. All these things are still ongoing.”

Rangers now stand at a delicate point in their season: a Europa League tie in the balance, a key striker facing months out, no natural left-footed defender available, and a manager demanding urgency in the market. How quickly the club can turn those “ongoing” deals into signatures may define what this campaign becomes.