EX-RANGERS chief Gordon Smith claims he wouldn’t have signed £10million striker Youssef Chermiti on a FREE transfer.
The Portuguese hitman has scored one goal since becoming Gers’ second costliest player when he arrived from Everton in August.
Chermiti, 21, missed two gilt-edged chances in the 3-1 Premier Sports Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic.
Former Gers director of football Smith said: “I was shocked by the signing. I’ll be honest, and I’ve done scouting courses, one of the factors you’re looking at in a striker is goals scored.
“I wouldn’t have brought him in on a free transfer, never mind paid money for him, on his stats.
“I couldn’t understand why they would possibly be interested in him.
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“He might come good eventually, who knows?
“But at that level, Chermiti was never worth it. That valuation was out of order.”
He failed to score for Everton’s first team after a £15m switch from Sporting Lisbon in 2023.
Chermiti worked with Kevin Thelwell at the Toffees, with Gers’ sporting director sanctioning his big-money move to Ibrox.
The Portugal Under-21 cap’s only goal so far was against Kilmarnock at Ibrox last month — and boss Danny Rohl had to speak to him about a cheeky celebration in front of fans.
Former Gers Treble winner Smith, speaking at a 5 Star International event, added: “He has hardly played any games and his goalscoring record did not stack up.
“I couldn’t understand that signing whatsoever. And I was into the recruitment side of the game. I know for a fact that in certain cases recruitment is done without the manager’s say.
“It was a foreign thing. When I was in Austria, the director of football was called the ‘manager’ and the trainer took the team.
“The manager had brought me to the club, not the coach, and I could tell straight away the coach wasn’t keen on me. It was because he hadn’t brought me in.
“That’s why I’ve always had the opinion that the coach should have final say on who gets signed.”
Smith, who won a domestic clean sweep under Jock Wallace in 1978, insists all strikers must be judged on their goal haul.
He recalled: “I went to Oldham on loan and Joe Royle asked me what I thought of the players.
“I asked, ‘Who’s the boy with the black hair and the moustache?’.
“He said, ‘That’s Micky Quinn, do you not rate him?’. I said no.
“I thought he was the worst player of the lot.
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“Joe pulled the Rothmans book down and showed me Micky’s stats.
“He’d scored three goals every four games. That taught me a lesson!”
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