Rangers sold a defender who’s become a better striker than Chermiti
Glasgow Rangers decided to part ways with sporting director Kevin Thelwell after just one transfer window with the club, after joining from Everton in April.
The English supremo brought in a host of new signings and appointed Russell Martin as the long-term successor to Philippe Clement, but his reign lasted just 17 matches.
He was then involved in the process that led to the arrival of current head coach Danny Rohl, but he was let go before having the opportunity to oversee any signings for the German boss.
Kevin Thelwell's worst two Rangers signings
Taking into account the money involved and the output given on the pitch so far, it is hard to look past Youssef Chermiti as being one of the worst signings made by Thelwell in the summer.
Football FanCast recently suggested that Joe Rothwell was the worst signing made by the sporting director, because he was signed as a 30-year-old with experience who is now set to move on, amid interest from Sheffield United, just six months into his Ibrox career.
After the English flop, though, Chermiti was the second-worst signing of the summer because the Light Blues paid a reported £8m to sign him from Premier League side Everton.
Youssef Chermiti’s goalscoring woes
Team
Games
Goals
Rangers
18
1
Everton
24
0
Sporting
22
3
Sporting B
10
3
Stats via Transfermarkt
That fee made him the club’s most expensive signing since they paid £12m to sign Tore Andre Flo in 2000, yet he has not justified that incredible outlay with strong performances.
Chermiti struggled for goals in Portugal, with Sporting, and failed to score a single competitive goal in two years before Thelwell decided to spend the most money Rangers have spent on a player in 25 years to bring him to Ibrox, where he has scored once in 18 matches.
Whilst Chermiti’s goal return makes him look like a poor piece of business on its own, another thing that emphasises how bad this signing has been is that there is a former Rangers defender who is now an even better striker than the £8m man.
The former Rangers defender who is now a better striker than Chermiti
Former Gers boss Michael Beale sold a full-back in the summer of 2023 on a free transfer, only for him to go on to change positions and excel as an attacker in Germany.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
Some Rangers fans may not even remember the name Mateusz Zukowski. The Scottish Premiership giants signed the right-back from Lechia Gdansk in the summer of 2022, and he played one senior match for the club.
Per Transfermarkt, Zukowski started at right-back in a 3-0 win over Annan Athletic in the SFA Cup, whilst he also started two matches at right-back in the Challenge Cup for the B team in the 2022/23 campaign.
However, after just one season at Ibrox, Beale decided that the defender was not in his plans and allowed him to join Slask Wroclaw for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2023.
It was with the Polish side that he started to move further up the pitch after being a bona fide right-back at Ibrox. Per Transfermarkt, Zukowski started ten games at right-back for Wroclaw, but he also started 16 games as a left winger and four games as a striker.
The former Beale flop then signed for German outfit Magdeburg in the summer and has started as a centre-forward in all five of his appearances for the club this season, per Transfermarkt, having started the campaign with a foot injury.
25/26 season
Zukowski (2. Bundesliga)
Chermiti (Premiership)
Appearances
4
10
Sofascore rating
7.10
6.50
Goals
3
1
Minutes per goal
113
348
Big chances created
2
0
Key passes per game
1.8
0.4
Assists
1
1
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Zukowski currently looks like a much better striker than Chermiti, having scored three times as many goals in less than half as many appearances, whilst playing at a respectable level in Germany, in a league with some big clubs, like Schalke.
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In fact, the Polish striker has scored three times as many goals this season as the Portuguese flop has managed since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, as the Rangers man failed to score a single goal for the Toffees.
Therefore, Zukowski’s impressive start to life in Germany, now playing as a striker, suggests that he was misprofiled at Ibrox and should have been utilised further up the pitch.
His goalscoring form also further illustrates how much of a waste of money Chermiti has been for a whopping £8m, on current evidence, because there is value in the market, as evidenced by the fact that a defender they let go is now an even better striker than him.
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