Youssef Chermiti Faces Long Road to Recovery After ACL Injury

Rangers’ most expensive signing in a generation now faces the longest road of his young career.

Youssef Chermiti has suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage and will be sidelined “for a significant period of time”, the club confirmed on social media, after a sickening collision in Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Hibernian.

The 22-year-old crashed into the advertising boards following a jarring challenge, his momentum carrying him off the pitch and leaving Ibrox hushed. What initially looked like an ugly fall has turned into the nightmare scenario for a striker whose stock had been steadily rising in Glasgow.

From record outlay to cruel setback

Chermiti arrived at Ibrox from Everton in September 2025, reportedly becoming Rangers’ most expensive signing since Tore Andre Flo’s landmark move in 2000. The fee underlined how heavily the club were prepared to invest in the Portuguese forward’s potential and presence at the top end of the pitch.

He had begun to justify that faith. Capped at under-21 level by Portugal, Chermiti has already made 43 appearances for Rangers, 30 of them starts, returning 15 goals and emerging as a central figure in Derek McInnes’ plans.

Now that momentum has been abruptly halted.

An ACL injury at 22 is brutal in any league, at any club. For Rangers, it rips a hole in the spine of a team still under construction and removes a key asset at the very moment his name has started to travel across Europe.

Transfer interest meets harsh reality

Only hours before kick-off against Hibs, McInnes had been fielding questions about interest from Turkish champions Galatasaray. Reports suggested the Istanbul club had tested Rangers’ resolve with an approach for Chermiti.

McInnes was clear. The bid, he said, did not come close.

“I’m led to believe the club’s valuation of the player hasn’t been met,” he told BBC Scotland before the match, underlining both the size of the price tag and the scale of Rangers’ belief in their No 9’s ceiling.

“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.”

The message was firm: Chermiti was central to the project, not a chip to be cashed in.

Within hours, the conversation had changed. Not about value, but about recovery.

A test of depth and direction

For McInnes, the injury lands like a tactical and psychological punch. Chermiti’s goals, his physicality, his ability to occupy defenders and link play have been woven into how Rangers want to attack. Removing that from the line-up for months forces a rethink.

Rangers had already turned down one route out of the dilemma – a lucrative sale and a rebuild. They now have to navigate the same season without the fee and without the player.

The club’s stance on Galatasaray’s interest made sense with a fit, firing centre forward leading the line and growing in value. Now the focus shifts to medical updates, rehabilitation schedules and how quickly a 22-year-old can fight his way back to the level that drew attention in the first place.

Chermiti’s absence will ask searching questions of the squad’s depth and of Rangers’ recruitment in the remainder of the window. It will also test the resilience of a dressing room that had just been told, in no uncertain terms, that it was being built around players like him.

The numbers that once defined his transfer now feel secondary. The only one that matters in the coming months is time.