As Rangers reports gather around Ecuadorean midfielder Jose Cifuentes, the player’s contract situation at LAFC points to some flaws in the Ibrox links.
To all intents and purposes, Rangers certainly look interested in bringing Jose Cifuentes to Ibrox and appear to be leading the pack when it comes to the 24-year-old.
Fabrizio Romano has claimed the deal is “very advanced”, stating that conversations between Rangers and the Ecuadorean star’s agent took place last week.
This would back up the presence of Jose Cifuentes’ agency at the Ibrox side’s 3-0 win over Celtic last weekend.
The Daily Record claim that Rangers are trying to “thrash out terms” with the midfielder over an Ibrox switch and are “close to agreeing personal terms” over the move.
However, while the report acknowledges that LAFC want to sell the player, neither report contains or allude to a transfer fee as Rangers look ahead to the summer.
Rangers will have to cough up for Ecuadorean Jose Cifuentes
The midfielder is still a LAFC player and was even involved in a recent win against San José Earthquakes, as the Californian club continued their bright start to their MLS campaign.
The contract situation of Ecuadorean star Cifuentes was also alluded to by Michael Beale heading into the weekend’s win over Hibs, as the Ibrox boss cooled reports suggesting a deal was close.
“Not really close if I’m honest, obviously these things pick up speed in the newspapers,” said Beale.
“He’s obviously a very, very good player but his contract runs to December so if you look at the length of that December seems a long way away.”
LAFC will command transfer fee
Given that Cifuentes isn’t yet into the final six months of his deal (with the contract set to expire at the end of December), they can’t be talking to the player without the permission of LAFC.
That would suggest that Rangers have either agreed a fee with LAFC or that the MLS side have given Rangers permission to speak to Cifuentes with a view to thrashing out a deal.
Either way, the comments of Beale are certainly a greater indicator as to the status of the transfer which, as things stand, appears to remain unsettled.
Whatever the case, it all points to Rangers’ interest in Cifuentes as being legitimate and let’s see what happens with a potential exciting move for the Ecuadorean international.
Jose Cifuentes would represent a statement signing from Rangers as they look to wrestle back the Premiership title.
