Rangers buy Charmiti from Everton and sell Dessers

Rangers have bought 21-year-old Youssef Chermiti from Everton for an undisclosed fee in the belief "he can develop into a top striker here" as they sold Cyriel Dessers to Panathinaikos.

Chermiti has signed a four-year contract with the Scottish Premiership club.

He came through the youth ranks with Sporting and, after he made 22 appearances, scoring three times, in the 2022-23 season, he was sold to the Premier League club for a reported fee of £11.5m, rising to £14m with add-ons.

But he has since played just 24 times, only two of them starts, for Everton without finding the net.

However, Rangers head coach Russell Martin told his club website "he's a young striker with huge potential".

Martin added that the Portugal Under-21 international has "a lot of the qualities we were looking for" in a striker.

"At just 21, he already has valuable experience at a high level and we believe this is the right environment for him to continue his development," he said.

"We're excited to work with him over the coming years and help him fulfil that potential here at Rangers."

Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell had brought Chermiti to Everton when he had a similar role with the Premier League club.

He had two years of contract still to run but did not feature in manager David Moyes' plans.

However, Thelwell said: "I know his character well from our time at Everton and I've always been impressed by his attitude, professionalism and hunger to improve.

"We believe he can develop into a top striker here and we're confident that Rangers is the right place for him to take that next step. We're all excited about what he can bring to the club over the coming years."

Chermiti added: "When I spoke with Kevin and Russell, I knew straight away that I wanted to join the club."

He becomes the second striker to have been bought by Rangers in the last four days, with former Aberdeen star Bojan Miovski arriving from Girona.

Meanwhile, Dessers leaves Rangers for the Greek Superleague for an undisclosed fee after making 115 appearances, scoring 52 goals.

The 30-year-old Belgium-born Nigeria international signed for Rangers from Serie A club Cremonese in July 2023 on a four-year deal.

However, four of his seven appearances this season under Martin have come from the bench and he has found the net only once.

He had started his career with Leuven before spells with Lokeren, Breda, Utrecht, Heracles Almelo, Genk and Feyenoord before moving to Italy.