Rangers have pulled the plug on their move for Couhaib Driouech after the PSV star failed his medical. The Morocco youth star was pictured at Ibrox last night sitting in the stands for the clash with Jagiellonia Bialystok. Everything looked agreed for the 24-year-old to become Rangers' 10th summer signing after a £7million deal was agreed. But in an incredible turn of events, the Gers pulled the plug on the deal after a small thigh muscle tear was uncovered by a scan.
Medical reveals injury
Although the injury was expected to keep Driouech out for only a short period, Rangers decided they could not afford to wait, and the development surprised PSV head coach Peter Bosz.
"Of course that was a surprise," said Bosz, as quoted by Voetbal International. "The clubs had reached an agreement. I thought everything was settled. I haven't had any further contact with him, so I don't know when he will be back. In a situation like this, you sit down with him, talk and listen."
PSV reaction
"In any case, my message is that he is one of my players again, that we have to win matches together, and I need his help with that too. I understand very well that it is a huge disappointment. That is allowed, I get that, but it has to go away, and preferably as soon as possible. Only then will he be available again."
PSV director Earnest Stewart also said: "In short, we believed that Couhaib would be fit again very soon. He had suffered a minor injury and, in our opinion, would be able to play matches again within a week, or at least very soon."
Before he added: "It is all very unfortunate. Couhaib went to Scotland on Tuesday and was there for three days. He traveled with what we consider a minor injury. They estimate the period he will be unable to play to be much longer than we do. From what I understood, six weeks. So we think it is considerably shorter."
Impact on Rangers
"Couhaib is really upset about it. Very unfortunate. He was left in uncertainty for 48 hours. Everything was also postponed by a day, and he has barely been able to do anything. We are now getting a disillusioned player back. That is not nice."
During the four to six weeks in which they believe he is unavailable, the whole deal suddenly falls apart. This concerns a period of more than 200 weeks during which he would be under contract. After all, it was a four-year contract.
The news of the collapsed deal has come as another bitter blow for McInnes and the frustrated Gers fanbase. McInnes and his team are already under pressure to improve after failing to win their first four games of the season - a run that leaves the Light Blues five points adrift in the title race already and spinning towards the Conference League after their 3-2 aggregate loss to Jagiellonia.
