Youssef Chermiti Faces Long Road to Recovery After Knee Injury

Youssef Chermiti faces a long road back after suffering serious knee damage just days after Rangers rejected interest in the striker.

The 22-year-old Portuguese forward damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Hibernian, crashing into the advertising boards after a heavy challenge. The impact ended his afternoon. It may shape Rangers’ season.

The club later confirmed on social media that Chermiti “will be out of action for a significant period of time”, a blunt line that underlines the severity of the blow for both player and manager Derek McInnes.

Chermiti only arrived at Ibrox from Everton in September 2025, in a deal widely reported as Rangers’ biggest outlay since Tore Andre Flo’s marquee move in 2000. He was signed as a statement, a centrepiece for a new attacking era. At 22, capped for Portugal at under-21 level, he carried the profile of a striker to build around rather than cash in on.

He has quickly become central to McInnes’ plans. Fifteen goals in 43 appearances, 30 of them starts, tell part of the story. The rest is in the way Rangers have been shaped to his strengths: a physical focal point, a willing runner, a finisher still sharpening his edges but clearly on an upward curve.

That form has not gone unnoticed. Before kick-off against Hibs, McInnes addressed reports that Turkish champions Galatasaray had tested Rangers’ resolve.

“I'm led to believe the club's valuation of the player hasn't been met,” he told BBC Scotland, making it clear Chermiti was not on the market on the club’s terms. Galatasaray had asked the question. Rangers had effectively slammed the door.

McInnes stressed how central the striker is to the rebuild.

“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.”

Hours later, the picture changed. Not in the boardroom, but in the treatment room.

Instead of fending off offers, Rangers must now plan without their main No 9 for an extended spell, while Chermiti confronts the harsh reality of ACL rehab at a pivotal stage of his career. For a club trying to construct a new side around him, and for a young forward just beginning to justify his billing as their most expensive signing in a generation, the timing could hardly be more brutal.