Youssef Chermiti Injured: Rangers Face Crisis After ACL Damage

Youssef Chermiti’s season was supposed to be about lift-off. Instead, it has lurched into crisis in the space of a few sickening seconds.

The Rangers striker faces a lengthy spell out after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage during Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Hibernian, an injury that arrived just hours after the club had rejected a major bid for him.

Rangers confirmed on social media that the 22-year-old “will be out of action for a significant period of time”, a phrase that in football circles rarely means anything other than months, not weeks.

A horrible moment at Ibrox

The incident itself was brutal in its simplicity. Chasing a ball near the byeline, Chermiti clattered into the advertising boards behind Raphael Sallinger’s goal after a heavy challenge. From the main stand at Ibrox, the sight was jarring: the forward crumpled in a heap, arm raised immediately to call for help, his face etched with pain.

There was no need for the usual hopeful glances to the bench. Everyone inside the stadium seemed to know his afternoon was over. Rangers now have to confront the possibility that his season might be heading the same way.

A cruciate ligament injury is always serious. When a club moves so quickly to stress that a player is out for a “significant period”, it underlines the scale of the damage and the disruption to the manager’s plans.

From £22m bid to long-term lay-off

The timing could hardly be more brutal for Derek McInnes or the Rangers board. On the very day they turned down a substantial offer – reported to be around £22m – for their main striker, Chermiti suffered the injury that will keep him out for months.

The decision had been framed as a statement of intent. Rangers chose to reject what chairman Andrew Cavenagh described as an “unsolicited” offer and kept their No 9 on the pitch for what they deemed a vital league match.

“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 told shareholders at Monday’s meeting when asked if Chermiti should have been protected amid the transfer interest.

It was a bold call. It now looks like a cruelly punished one.

Before kick-off, McInnes had been quizzed about reports that Turkish champions Galatasaray were the club behind the bid. He made it clear Rangers felt the proposal fell short.

“I'm led to believe the club's valuation of the player hasn't been met,” he told BBC Scotland. “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 were barely dry before his most valuable attacking asset lay stricken behind the goal.

McInnes’ early tenure tested

McInnes has barely settled into the Ibrox dugout, yet already he is dealing with the sort of misfortune that can shape a season. He had built his last two starting line-ups around Chermiti, a powerful focal point with the mobility to stretch defences and the composure to finish.

The Portuguese forward arrived from Everton in September 2025, reportedly becoming Rangers’ most expensive signing since Tore Andre Flo in 2000. The club invested for the long term and had started to see returns: 43 appearances, 30 starts, 15 goals, and the sense that his ceiling was still rising.

Capped at under-21 level by Portugal, Chermiti had quickly become central to Rangers’ plans and to McInnes’ attempts to impose his own identity on the team. Now the manager must improvise.

The chairman has promised help. Cavenagh told shareholders that “three to five” new faces will still be recruited, a pledge that will sound even more urgent after the weekend. A striker had already been on the wish list; it may now move to the top.

Striker department under the microscope

Inside the building, the options are suddenly under harsh scrutiny.

Lawrence Shankland, a prolific scorer elsewhere, has yet to get his Rangers career off the ground. Ryan Naderi has been given chances but has not convinced as the solution to the side’s current lack of goals. Bojan Miovski remains on the books but is still waiting for a competitive minute under McInnes.

Chermiti, by contrast, had started the last two games and looked the likeliest route to goal. His absence strips Rangers of their most complete centre forward at a time when the fixture list offers little mercy.

Next up in Europe are Poland’s Jagiellonia Bialystok in Europa League qualifying, a tie that already carried weight for McInnes’ early tenure. Now he must navigate it without his main striker, without the man around whom his attack was beginning to revolve.

The board chose to keep their £22m asset on the pitch and reject the money. The price they now pay will not be measured in a balance sheet, but in goals, results, and the direction of a season that suddenly feels far more precarious.