Rangers Suffer Chermiti ACL Injury Blow, Driouech Signing Nears
Rangers’ season absorbed a brutal twist at Ibrox on Sunday. The defeat to Hibernian hurt. The sight of Youssef Chermiti being carried off on a stretcher hurt far more.
The 22-year-old striker has suffered an ACL injury and will be out for “a significant period of time” after a freak collision with the pitchside boards in the first half. He left the stadium in a protective boot and knee brace, the kind of imagery that drains the optimism from any dressing room.
The timing could hardly be more jarring. Only hours earlier, it had emerged that Rangers had knocked back a big-money offer from Galatasaray for the Portuguese forward, a bid sizeable enough to test the club’s resolve. The answer had been clear: he is central to the project, not for sale.
Now that project has lost its spearhead.
Chermiti had quickly become one of the pillars of this Rangers side. Signed from Everton last summer in a deal worth up to £10m, he delivered 15 goals and five assists in all competitions in his first campaign. Power, movement, and a growing ruthlessness in front of goal had pushed his valuation beyond even the club-record fee received for Calvin Bassey’s move to Ajax in 2023, an initial £19.6m.
Inside Ibrox, the hierarchy viewed him as the next major asset. On Sunday, he looked every inch that player again until his afternoon ended in agony.
New manager Derek McInnes, still searching for his first win in charge after three matches, cut a frustrated figure afterwards. The performance had already left plenty to chew over; the loss of his main striker turned irritation into concern.
“Disappointed for the big fella that he has to come off on a stretcher. I thought he was looking bright and running gaps,” McInnes said after the game. “He played with a bit of purpose and there's no doubt we missed that, but he's left in a boot and his knee in a brace.
“It's no surprise that he's a player who's got a big tag on him and he's got high potential, but thankfully he's our player and that will continue to be the case.”
The message was clear: Rangers intend to keep Chermiti. The reality now is they must learn to cope without him.
Driouech on the way as rebuild accelerates
If Sunday underlined the fragility of a squad built around a handful of key figures, this week is designed to show Rangers’ response.
Nine signings have already arrived this summer. A tenth is on the runway.
A £6.5m deal has been agreed for PSV Eindhoven winger Couhaib Driouech, who is undergoing his medical and finalising paperwork before completing his move to Ibrox. The 21-year-old has drawn interest from Burnley and Celta Vigo, but Rangers have moved decisively to secure him.
Driouech brings end product. Across 61 games for PSV, he has scored 12 goals and supplied 10 assists, including three goals in last season’s Champions League campaign. Born in Holland, he came through spells at Heerenveen and Excelsior and has already been capped by Morocco at U23 level. Direct, creative and comfortable on the big stage, he arrives with the profile of a player built for noisy European nights in Glasgow.
For a club suddenly robbed of its main striker, the addition of another attacking threat feels less like a luxury and more like a necessity.
Boardroom intent and a defensive to-do list
The recruitment drive will not stop with Driouech. At Monday’s shareholders’ meeting, chairman Andrew Cavenagh set out the club’s stance with unusual clarity: Rangers want between three and five more signings before the window closes.
The backline sits near the top of that list. With Scotland’s transfer deadline set for 5pm on September 3, the club is working against the clock to reshape its defensive options.
Aston Villa right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic has emerged as a possible addition after initial talks, while Hugo Siquet of Club Brugge is also under consideration. On the left, Rangers have held discussions over a move for former Hearts defender James Penrice, now at AEK in Greece.
Each of those names points to the same conclusion. This is not a minor tune-up. It is a structural rebuild, one that has to withstand the pressure of a title race and the demands of European football.
Chermiti’s injury only sharpens the stakes. McInnes must now reconfigure his attack, the board must deliver reinforcements that can start quickly, and a support that had just begun to believe in a new era is forced to confront an early test of its patience.
The striker Rangers refused to cash in on will not be leading their line for months. The question now is whether the club’s aggressive work in the market can keep their ambitions intact while they wait for him to return.
