PSV reveal reason Rangers abandoned Couhaib Driouech transfer

PSV break silence on Couhaib Driouech Rangers transfer collapse

PSV have expressed their surprise at the breakdown of Couhaib Driouech’s proposed move to Rangers, with the Dutch club disagreeing with the severity of the injury identified during his medical.

Driouech travelled to Scotland on Tuesday expecting to complete his transfer to Rangers, but the deal was delayed after concerns emerged during his medical.

Rangers reportedly believed the winger could be unavailable for around six weeks, a significantly longer period than PSV expected.

PSV director of football Earnest Stewart explained that the club viewed Driouech’s injury as minor and believed he would be ready to return much sooner.

“In short, we believed that Couhaib would be fit again very soon,” Stewart said. “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.”

According to Stewart, Rangers’ assessment was considerably more serious.

“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.”

The failed transfer has reportedly left Driouech extremely disappointed after spending several days in Scotland waiting for the move to be completed.

Stewart revealed that the player was left in limbo for around 48 hours as the clubs attempted to resolve the situation.

“Couhaib is really upset about it. Very unfortunate,” he said. “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.”

PSV also questioned why a temporary solution could not be found given their belief that Driouech would only be unavailable for a short period.

The Dutch club and Rangers briefly discussed the possibility of turning the proposed permanent transfer into a season-long loan, but the idea was ultimately rejected.

Stewart confirmed that a loan was never part of the original agreement.

“This was going to be a permanent transfer, and that was not on the table,” he said.

The collapse is a major disappointment for Driouech, who had expected to begin a new chapter at Rangers, while the Scottish club must now reassess their attacking options after concerns over the player’s fitness brought the deal to an unexpected end.