Smiling Rangers forward begins long road to recovery

The 22-year-old posted a hospital picture on his Instagram, marking the start of his recovery after sustaining anterior cruciate ligament damage in the match against Hibernian.

The injury blow came shortly after the club dismissed an offer for the forward. Rangers boss Derek McInnes said: "Really disappointing for ourselves; he is a big part of what we wanted to do."

McInnes added: "For Youssef himself, obviously he’s very young. It’ll be difficult for him to accept and understand what’s happened to him."

Chermiti's injury has been a tough pill to swallow for both the player and the club, but McInnes revealed that the timing offers a slight reprieve.

The incident has occurred within the transfer window, giving Rangers a chance to find a replacement. He said: "The only saving grace from our point of view as a club is the fact it’s happened in a transfer window and we’ve got the opportunity to react to that."

After seeing a specialist in London, Chermiti underwent surgery and now faces a significant recovery period.

In light of Chermiti's absence, McInnes confirmed that the club are actively seeking to bolster their attacking options. He said: "We are obviously looking at maybe strengthening that area of the pitch.

"We’re trying to be quite proactive with that and seeing what is available."