Everton's £11.5m transfer mistake comes back to haunt Toffees as patience pays off

Goodison Park officials are experiencing a sharp pang of regret this week after watching Youssef Chermiti, the striker they sold for £8 million last summer, fire Rangers to within two points of the Scottish Premiership summit with a stunning hat-trick against leaders Hearts.

Chermiti’s treble in Sunday’s 4-2 triumph at Ibrox was the Portuguese forward’s first career hat-trick and continued a remarkable reversal of fortune that began with only two goals before Christmas. The 21-year-old’s explosive form has transformed him from scapegoat to saviour for the Glasgow giants, who are now genuine contenders in a rare three-way title fight.

For Everton, the narrative is altogether more painful. Signed from Sporting for £11.5 million in August 2023, Chermiti mustered 25 goalless appearances on Merseyside and became a symbol of the club’s scatter-gun recruitment under former sporting director Kevin Thelwell. The decision to cash out at a £3.5 million loss less than 18 months later appeared, at the time, an acceptance that the initial gamble had failed.

Yet Rangers boss Danny Rohl never lost faith. “Three goals, he worked hard for the group,” Rohl beamed after the Hearts victory. “Big games are for big players and today he showed how big he is.” The German’s task now, he insists, is to “keep him hungry” for the run-in.

Thelwell, sacked in November alongside chief executive Patrick Stewart after a poor start to the campaign, had defended the signing back in October, arguing: “Sometimes you have to take a player that you think is at the start of their journey, grow and develop them… Physically, he is a top, top performer. We think in due course in a particular style of play it will help him score goals.”

Those words look prescient as Chermiti’s recent burst—five goals in his last three league outings—has dragged Rangers back into contention and intensified pressure on faltering Celtic, who have now fallen six points off the pace.

Hearts, who began the weekend boasting a five-point cushion over Rangers and six over Celtic, still lead the table but feel the chasing pack breathing down their necks. With instability plaguing both Old Firm clubs—five managerial changes between them since October—the Edinburgh side’s dream of breaking the Glasgow duopoly is suddenly under serious threat.

For Everton supporters, Sunday’s highlights reel will have felt like a parallel universe: the player who could not buy a goal in royal blue is now the sharpest shooter in Scotland. As Bramley-Moore Dock’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium prepares to welcome fans for the 2025-26 season, the club’s hierarchy may reflect that the £3.5 million write-off on Chermiti could prove far costlier than any balance-sheet entry if his goals propel Rangers to an unlikely championship.

In football, timing is everything—and the Toffees’ timing on this deal could haunt them for years.