Rangers are reportedly plotting a fresh move for Motherwell striker Tawanda Maswanhise as Derek McInnes continues his search for attacking reinforcements following the devastating injury blow suffered by Youssef Chermiti earlier this month. According to Football Insider, the Ibrox club have identified the Zimbabwe international as a genuine option before the transfer window shuts, with scouts having been left thoroughly impressed by what they have seen from the forward over the course of the past year. It’s the latest twist in what has become an increasingly urgent hunt for a new frontman at Ibrox, with McInnes acutely aware that his squad cannot afford to be left short in attack as Rangers push forward on multiple fronts this season.
The need for reinforcements up front stems directly from the horror injury picked up by Chermiti during the defeat to Hibernian earlier this month. The Portuguese forward went down awkwardly after a collision near the advertising boards and was later confirmed to have ruptured his ACL, a devastating blow both for the player personally and for a Rangers side that had built plans around his physical presence and aerial threat as the focal point of the attack. The club have since confirmed that Chermiti faces a significant period on the sidelines, effectively ruling him out for the vast majority, if not the entirety, of the season. It was a cruel and bitterly timed setback too, arriving just hours after Rangers had knocked back a substantial approach from Galatasaray for the striker, a decision that underlined just how highly he was regarded within Ibrox circles before injury struck. To lose a player of that profile and potential so soon after choosing to reject serious transfer interest in him has left a obvious void that McInnes now has to address, and address quickly, given the layered demands of a campaign that includes Europa League qualifying football alongside the usual grind of the Premiership.
What makes the Maswanhise links particularly interesting for Rangers supporters is the sheer weight of end product he produced in Scottish football last season. After what was, by his own admission, a difficult and underwhelming debut campaign at Fir Park following his move from Leicester City, the forward transformed his fortunes in spectacular fashion during the 2025/26 season, finishing the campaign as the outright top scorer in the entire Scottish Premiership with a return of 17 league goals. That kind of production from open play, delivered in the same division Rangers compete in week to week, will have caught the eye of recruitment staff at Ibrox who understand exactly how difficult it can be to consistently find the net in a league where games against the so-called smaller sides are so often stubborn, physical and low-scoring affairs. His goals also played a significant role in helping Motherwell secure European football for the upcoming campaign, a achievement that speaks to his importance within Stuart Kettlewell’s side and underlines just how influential his form has been. It’s little surprise, then, that Rangers are said to be far from the only admirers, with a number of clubs credited with interest in the Zimbabwean, though reports suggest it is the Ibrox side who currently find themselves at the front of the queue for his signature.
The pursuit of Maswanhise arrives against the backdrop of what has already been an eventful and, at times, chaotic search for attacking reinforcements since Chermiti’s injury was confirmed. Rangers were initially strongly linked with a move for Sheffield United’s promising young forward Ryan One, with reports suggesting the Blades knocked back an early loan approach from Ibrox before conflicting information later emerged in Scotland suggesting Rangers had actually stepped back from that particular pursuit altogether. There was also strong and sustained interest reported in Portland Timbers striker Kevin Kelsy, with Rangers understood to have made contact with the MLS outfit over a potential deal for the towering Venezuelan international. Kelsy has enjoyed a fine campaign in America, netting nine goals and contributing a couple of assists across 17 appearances, and his physical profile, standing at six-foot-four, was seen as an obvious stylistic match for the presence Chermiti had been providing before his injury. His backstory only adds to the intrigue, with the striker having previously won back-to-back Ukrainian Premier League titles during a spell with Shakhtar Donetsk and having become the fourth-youngest South American player in history to score in the Champions League, a list that includes the likes of Rodrygo and a certain Lionel Messi. Reports have since indicated that Rangers are prepared to explore both permanent and loan-based structures to get a deal for Kelsy done, though it remains to be seen whether that pursuit will ultimately be prioritised ahead of the fresh links to Maswanhise, or whether the club end up pursuing multiple targets simultaneously given the scale of the gap left by Chermiti’s absence.
There has also been talk in recent days of Rangers looking further up the football pyramid, with reports suggesting the club were exploring a late attempt to prise a forward away from a Premier League club before deadline day, with Leeds United striker Joe Gelhardt among the names to have been mentioned in that context. It’s understood Rangers had actually tracked Gelhardt earlier in the summer window following a productive loan spell at Hull City, and Chermiti’s injury has reportedly reignited that interest as the club widens its net in search of the right fit. Taken together, all of this paints a picture of a recruitment team working at pace across multiple markets, from Major League Soccer to the English Premier League to right on their doorstep in the Scottish Premiership, in an effort to find not just any replacement, but the right one, given the specific physical and technical qualities Chermiti offered as a genuine focal point in the final third.
Derek McInnes has been candid and unusually open about the scale of the challenge the club now faces, admitting to BBC Sport that losing Chermiti has hit his plans hard on a personal level given how much the club had built around the Portuguese forward’s talent and potential heading into the campaign. He stressed that Rangers are determined to be proactive rather than reactive in the transfer market as a result, a stance that appears to be reflected in the sheer volume of names being credited with interest in such a short space of time. It’s a sentiment that will resonate with supporters who understand just how costly it can be to enter the business end of a season light on options up front, particularly with Rangers also competing in continental competition where squad depth becomes even more critical given the volume of fixtures involved. The club does still retain proven goalscoring options elsewhere in the squad, with Lawrence Shankland and Bojan Miovski both established performers at this level, while youngster Ryan Naderi has stepped up impressively in the interim, scoring in back-to-back matches against St Mirren and Jablonec while deployed as the focal point of a reshaped front three. Naderi himself spoke honestly about the collective responsibility the squad feels to fill the void left by his absence, describing Chermiti as a genuinely unique type of player and insisting that replacing his contribution has to be viewed as a team effort rather than something that falls solely on the shoulders of whoever eventually comes in to wear the number nine shirt on a more permanent basis.
It’s worth remembering, too, just how much promise Chermiti had shown in his brief time north of the border before injury struck, and why Rangers were so determined to hold onto him in the face of serious interest from Galatasaray. The 22-year-old arrived at Ibrox with a reputation as an exciting, if unproven, talent, having struggled for regular game time during his spell at Everton after a big-money move from Sporting Lisbon failed to fully click on Merseyside. At Ibrox, however, he appeared to be finding his feet and beginning to show the athleticism, physical presence and technical quality that first persuaded Everton to part with a significant fee for his signature as a teenager. That’s precisely what makes this injury setback such a bitter pill to swallow for everyone connected with the club, and why the search for a like-for-like or complementary replacement has taken on such urgency in the weeks since. Whether that solution ultimately arrives in the form of Maswanhise’s proven Premiership goalscoring pedigree, Kelsy’s physical profile and international pedigree, or another name entirely from the various markets Rangers have been scouring, McInnes knows he cannot afford to enter the coming months without genuine firepower and depth at his disposal. The transfer window may not close until early September, giving the club a little breathing room to get any deal right rather than rushed, but with Europa League qualifying commitments and a congested domestic fixture list both looming, there’s a clear sense of urgency behind the scenes at Ibrox to get a new frontman through the door sooner rather than later.
