Youssef Chermiti reflects on Everton struggle and names what's already better at Rangers - Liverpool Echo

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Youssef Chermiti has been reflecting on his time on Merseyside at Everton after a deadline day move to Rangers

Youssef Chermiti has suggested he already has a better relationship with his new manager than he did with any he worked with at Everton. The former Blues forward endured a torrid two years on Merseyside.

Failing to score a goal in a stint that was dogged by bad luck and injuries, he insists he grew a lot while on Merseyside despite those setbacks.

But the 21-year-old added he had settled in well at new club Rangers and named Gers boss Russell Martin as a key factor in his integration at Ibrox.

In an interview with the club programme, reported via Glasgow Times, Chermiti said: "I didn't have the relationships with other managers as I do with Russell. At Sporting [where Everton bought him from in 2023], the manager was good to me but I was young and shy.

"If you can speak freely to a manager it is a good thing. If you are unhappy or need advice, that relationship is so important."

Chermiti's first 18 months at Everton were under Sean Dyche.

Opportunities proved hard to come by, with his chances limited to cameos from the bench apart from a first Premier League start against Brentford in the April of the campaign, one in which the BLues were engulfed in a relegation battle after suffering two points deductions for breaching league financial rules.

Dyche conceded a loan move may have been better for the player but that he could not afford to lose him from a thin squad.

Chermiti looked set to seize his chance when it came the following pre-season, the Portugal youth international impressing in early pre-season games.

But he then suffered a foot injury that required surgery, a cruel blow that ruled him out for months just as he looked set to launch a challenge for more minutes.

A long road to recovery had the potential to end in sustained minutes when, the following January, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Armando Broja suffered serious injuries and, with David Moyes taking over with the club facing another survival battle, Beto's minutes far from certain.

Yet injury struck again, curtailing Chermiti's season and his chance of staking a claim for a serious role in life after Goodison Park.

The arrival of Thierno Barry from Villarreal in a £27.5m deal in the summer appeared to relegate him to third choice forward and so when interest was shown by Rangers, whose recruitment is led by director of football Kevin Thelwell - the man who took Chermiti to Everton - talks quickly developed into an £8m deal.

Chermiti contrasted his opening weeks in Scotland with his time at Everton - reflecting on how moving to England was tough and living alone made it difficult to settle.

Having learned from those experiences, he is in a better place to adapt to his new club.

He said: "It has been a good few weeks and I am surprised at how the people treat me here. I

"I am happy and I can't wait to get in the team. I have already settled in really well and everyone has been really friendly to me."

Chermiti still believes his time at the BLues was important in his development, adding: "My two years at Everton helped me as a player and they have made me stronger.

"If something happens on the pitch, I know how to deal with it."