Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh has doubly confirmed that Rangers rejected a £22M offer for Portuguese striker Youssef Chermiti. Before the club confirmed the story outright, the initial reaction from fans involved outrage, confusion and frustration. Chermiti is generally not a highly regarded member of the Rangers squad. And Youssef Chermiti bid rejected was odd at best.
Chermiti endured a weak first season
He endured an incredibly poor first season and only improved slightly towards the end.
While his goal return looks strong on paper, Rangers concentrated those goals into small patches during bizarre matches.
Otherwise, Chermiti missed the target far more often and regularly failed to score.
Put simply, he had brief and bizarre aberrations when he looked like Lionel Messi. Otherwise, he looked much more like Egil Østenstad.
However, the simple point is that Rangers rejected the bid.
They also rejected a £13M offer from Beşiktaş in January.
This is the second time Ibrox Noise has reported that Rangers rejected a significant Beşiktaş bid for a player.
We reported the same thing yesterday regarding Mohamed Diomande. Many readers roundly abused us and claimed that we were discussing fiction. They were not interested in the facts.
Rangers rejected another huge offer
However, the facts show that Rangers absolutely rejected a £13M Beşiktaş bid for Chermiti in January.
Rangers fans reacted with outrage upon learning about that offer in January. Now it has happened again. Rangers have rejected £22M and every party has officially confirmed that decision.
Chermiti had a very weak season and most supporters noticed that. The idea that Rangers rejected such an offer is almost unfathomable.
However, chairman Andrew Cavenagh explained the reason during yesterday’s large scale meeting with shareholders and fans.
He said money did not matter to him. Only winning mattered. More importantly, Cavenagh claimed that Rangers could not replace Chermiti like for like. Simple as that.
He said:
“I won’t speak about individual deals or players. We are not under pressure to sell. Selling a player for a lot of money if you can’t put it back into the squad is pointless and the sporting point has to come first.”
CEO Jim Gillespie, who we thought a lot of till recently, added:
“It’s crucial Rangers get the right value for every player.”
Because, apparently, double market value and then some isn’t the right value. After requiring to shift some asset players and make big money for a good revenue stream, Rangers have now ditched the chance to do that.
Cavenagh’s reasoning makes no sense
What an absolutely absurd response to Rangers receiving a £22M bid for a player barely worth £10M.
Of course, his market value has strengthened slightly. However, the reality remains that this lad has not exactly shone for Rangers.
Put simply, claiming Rangers cannot replace him for £22M represents some of the most absurd reasoning Ibrox Noise has ever heard.
That applies across our decades of supporting Rangers FC.
Cavenagh seemingly does not believe Rangers can find somebody to match or improve upon Chermiti before 3 September.
That is literally the most absurd reasoning we have ever heard from an out of touch owner.
It backs up what we discussed yesterday. Cavenagh did not pull off a masterstroke regarding Danny Rohl.
He simply got lucky. We are not even sure that the replacement represents much luck after all. However, time will tell.
Rangers could easily replace Chermiti
The reality is that Cavenagh does not look as shrewd a businessman as we believed. He claims his focus remains on winning and Rangers’ ability to replace Chermiti. Are we seriously saying Rangers could not find a £5M or £10M striker better than Youssef Chermiti within one month?
Could they not even find somebody who matched him? This suggests either diabolical incompetence from the chairman or absolute failure within the recruitment system.
Perhaps Rangers have not identified anybody in that position despite all the forensic data systems in place. Put simply, it was an appalling answer.
It was illogical, ridiculous and out of touch. Very few fans bought that reasoning, to say the least. It was simply comical and made no sense.
If Cavenagh wants to win, we are not exactly sure that Youssef Chermiti represents the answer. Hence Youssef Chermiti bid rejected is bizarre.