Youssef Chermiti Faces Long Recovery After Serious Knee Injury

Youssef Chermiti faces a long and brutal spell on the sidelines after suffering serious knee damage just days after Rangers rejected interest in the striker.

The 22-year-old Portuguese forward sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury 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 define his season.

Rangers later confirmed on social media that Chermiti “will be out of action for a significant period of time”, a stark line that underlines the scale of the blow for both player and club.

This is no fringe figure. Since arriving from Everton in September 2025, in a deal widely reported as Rangers’ biggest outlay since the signing of Tore Andre Flo in 2000, Chermiti has steadily grown into a central part of Derek McInnes’ plans. Capped at under-21 level by Portugal, he has already made 43 appearances for the Ibrox side, starting 30 of them and scoring 15 goals.

Those numbers, and his profile, have not gone unnoticed.

Before kick-off against Hibs, McInnes was asked about reports that Turkish champions Galatasaray had made a move for the striker. The Rangers manager made it clear the club were not interested in cashing in.

“I’m led to believe the club’s valuation of the player hasn’t been met,” he told BBC Scotland, underlining both Chermiti’s value and Rangers’ stance. The message was firm: he is a player for the present and the future.

“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,” McInnes said, stressing that Rangers are in build mode, not sell mode.

“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 reality of football’s cruelty cut through all of that planning. The club that had just batted away interest from the Turkish champions must now confront life without a key forward for an extended stretch, while a 22-year-old who arrived with a record price tag and rising reputation begins the long, lonely road back from an ACL tear.

For Rangers, the market noise around Youssef Chermiti has stopped. The challenge now is far tougher: ensuring that, when he finally returns, he still looks like the striker they were so determined not to lose.