Why Rangers paid so much for Youssef Chermiti as £8.5m outlay gets sternest defence

Chermiti arrived at Rangers at the end of the summer transfer window for an £8.5 million fee from Everton - one of the biggest outlays in the club’s history. However, he is yet to score for the Ibrox side.

The 21-year-old Portuguese also failed to score a senior goal during his two years on Merseyside and many questions are being asked on such a huge outlay for little return. However, Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh believes the former Sporting CP youth will come good and explained that the position he plays in was a big factor in such an extravagant outlay by Scottish football standards.

“In the open market a player like him who proves he has the ability to score goals, and that is what he will eventually be judged on, will be transferred for a number that we just couldn’t afford,” said Cavenagh. “Sometimes you have to take a player who is at the start of their journey, go and develop them, and then they make that step and they help us to win going forward.

“Physically clearly he is a top, top performer. He is as strong and physical as anyone in the group, if not the strongest and most physical. We understand how that translates and how that helps teams win football games. We think in due course in a particular style of play it will help him score goals and hopefully you will see the best of him.

“In today’s football economy, the value of a player isn’t directly tied any more, in the way it used to be, to their production on the pitch. People spend more on nines than on any other position. He is largely physical and in those positions they are 20, 30, 50, 90 million pounds. We don’t look at Youssef and say he has to be the best player on the pitch. He is the most valuable because he has the potential to be a great player.

“He is one of those players that we do expect to contribute but I think we don’t have the expectation that he walks in as one of the more expensive signings and instantly has to be productive. We also have some other players in other parts of the pitch who wouldn’t have the same transfer fee who are probably better players, but that’s how football works.”

Thelwell has say on Chermiti

Sporting director Kevin Thelwell brought Chermiti to Everton while he was working at Goodison Park and feels the striker - and other new recruits - will thrive at Rangers under new his new head coach Danny Rohl.

“I would probably start by saying if we were to look at the first eight games, in the league in particular, we haven’t seen the best of any of the players,” said Thelwell. “Have we? So I can completely understand why you would ask the question about recruitment and whether the recruitment has been good enough.

“I believe that these players are much better than they have shown so far. I believe with Danny in charge and with a slightly different style of play, he will bring the best out of those players. But ultimately he will not only help us to have better performances from them, but he will help us to win games.

“Youssef has been a top talent for a number of years. You will know my history with Youssef . I signed him at Everton and he had some Premier League experience there. I can understand why some fans would say, ‘well, come on, he hasn’t got the resume yet that shows he is going to be capable of doing X, Y and Z for our team or being sold for this number or that number’.”