Rangers Face Challenges After Chermiti Injury Blow

Derek McInnes admits Rangers are “playing with fire” at the back and scrambling for firepower up front after a brutal injury blow to striker Youssef Chermiti.

The 22-year-old forward suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in Saturday’s defeat by Hibernian, a setback that rules him out long term and rips a key part out of McInnes’ plans just as the season starts to take shape.

Chermiti blow changes the plan

The timing could hardly be worse. Chermiti went down only days after McInnes revealed a sizeable bid for the Portugal Under-21 international had been knocked back. Galatasaray have been heavily linked with the former Everton striker, but that speculation is now parked while the player prepares to see a specialist in London, with surgery expected next week.

“Really disappointing for ourselves,” McInnes said, underlining how central Chermiti was to the campaign ahead. The club had intended to keep him. A “big number” was reportedly offered and rejected, and now the entire conversation has shifted from resisting offers to replacing a focal point.

For Chermiti, it is a brutal early-career test. At 22, facing a long rehabilitation from an ACL tear is a harsh reality check. For Rangers, it forces an aggressive pivot in the market.

“The only saving grace,” McInnes admitted, is that it has happened inside the transfer window. That gives Rangers a narrow window to react rather than endure months without a recognised replacement.

“Proactive” hunt for a new No 9

McInnes made it clear the club are already moving.

“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.”

Rangers now need exactly that: a proper centre-forward, at pace, and at a stage of the window when prices climb and options shrink. The manager knows the market and knows the clock is ticking.

The need for a striker comes as Rangers prepare for a pivotal European night. They trail Jagiellonia Bialystok 2-1 from the first leg of their Europa League third-round qualifier and must overturn that deficit at Ibrox on Thursday without the man they had built so much of their attacking plan around.

Defensive worries mount

Up front isn’t the only problem. At the other end of the pitch, McInnes is uneasy.

Left-back Tuur Rommens has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a groin injury, also picked up against Hibernian. That leaves Rangers dangerously light in defence, and the manager did not sugar-coat it.

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

There is not a single natural left-footed defender available to him. For a side juggling domestic demands and European qualifiers, that is a glaring imbalance.

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

Strengthening the back line and the flanks had already been a priority. Rommens’ injury has simply turned that priority into an urgent problem.

Wingers, full-backs and a busy recruitment team

McInnes has been open about where he wants help.

“Strengthening defensively and in wide areas was the priority,” he explained. “We all know what we need but acting really swiftly would help matters.

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

Names have inevitably surfaced. Brentford’s Jayden Meghoma, who spent last season on loan at Ibrox, has been linked with a return to cover the left-back slot. PSV Eindhoven winger Couhaib Driouech is another heavily touted for a permanent move.

On Driouech, McInnes chose his words carefully but did not deny the progress.

“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.”

The message is clear: the recruitment department is busy, but until deals are signed, McInnes must juggle what he has.

Thin squad, huge stakes

So Rangers walk into a defining European tie short of a striker, without a fit left-back, and with their manager warning of the risks of going into the autumn light in defence.

McInnes still has a chance to reshape his squad before the window closes. The club has already shown it will turn down serious money to keep its best players. Now it must show it can move just as decisively to replace them when bad luck strikes.

With Jagiellonia Bialystok coming to Ibrox and the league campaign beginning to harden, how quickly Rangers solve those problems may decide whether this season becomes a story of resilience or one of what might have been.