Thelwell was one of Chermiti’s biggest fans and Rangers supporters are only just starting to see why
Kevin Thelwell told Rangers fans at a private event that Youssef Chermiti was out-performing Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Everton – and there are signs the axed sporting director is beginning to be proved right.
Ex-recruitment chief Thelwell was shown the door alongside chief executive Patrick Stewart in November, the pair paying the price for a disastrous summer which spelled the beginning and the end for Russell Martin.
The £8m signing of Chermiti from Everton was initially viewed as one of the main sticks to beat him with, but while the likes of Bojan Miovski, Thelo Aasgaard and Joe Rothwell – who has already been moved on – have desperately struggled, there are now signs of Chermiti finding his feet.
Rangers booted out substantial offers for him in January after he scored a match-winning double against Celtic – and his hat-trick against Hearts over the weekend has breathed fire into their revived title challenge.
Back in October, Thelwell was ridiculed for defending the striker. According to one fan on Twitter, the sporting director even claimed at a fans’ forum that he was signed on the basis that his former club Everton rated him higher than England striker Calvert-Lewin in virtually every department.
And while the expression that relates to broken clocks being right twice a day might ring true, the early signs are there that Thelwell may have known what he was talking about with the Portuguese.
Speaking at a press conference later in October, Thelwell said on Chermiti: “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’.
“But in reality, if he had even a small resume he wouldn’t, with some of the qualities that he’s got, be coming to Rangers.
“In the open market, a player like him who has proved he has the ability score goals, and that is what he will eventually be judged on, will be transferred for a number that we just couldn’t afford.
“Sometimes you have to take a player that you think is at the start of their journey, grow and develop them and then make that step for us and help us to win going forwards.
“Physically, he is a top, top performer. 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.”