Throughout the last few weeks, Rangers boss Philippe Clement has taken every chance available to him to play down any hopes of an instant impact from a sea of new faces at Ibrox.
Robin Propper, he said, needed time to settle after his bargain £1.5 million move from FC Twente.
The Rangers fans should not expect to see teenager Clinton Nsiala or Hamza Igamane feature in the starting XI any time soon, either.
Furthermore, despite a couple of impressive cameos and a stoppage time assist for Cyriel Dessers away to Dynamo Kiev, Vaclav Cerny will be on the bench again when The Gers travel to Motherwell on Saturday.
But when Jefte Vital was brought up during the manager’s pre-match press conference, Clement was a lot more forthcoming in his praise for a man who may be the closest of Rangers’ nine summer signings to joining Connor Barron in the starting line-up.
Jefte Vital makes excellent impression at Rangers
“It was what I expected. He’s a very talented player,” Clement tells Rangers’ official YouTube channel when asked to comment on Jefte’s stand-out 45 minute display in that 1-1 draw away to Dynamo in the Champions League qualifiers.
“That’s why we made a big fight during six months to get him here.”
It is no secret that Rangers tried to lure Jefte to Ibrox at the start of the year. They reportedly agreed terms with Fluminense at the time, a deal collapsing after APOEL Nicosia refused to terminate his loan deal a few months ahead of schedule.
“From January on, we kept a lot of contact with him. And it was really obvious to come to Rangers,” Clement adds, insisting that Rangers faced no shortage of competition.
“A lot of teams were interested in him. A lot of other clubs wanted to sign him. But (Jefte) was really convinced about the project here.
“He’s a very talented player for the future. He needs to learn a lot of things. He’s only 20 and he had one year of experience in Europe but he has the right mentality to fight and be there for the team.
“He has a lot of physical and technical qualities.”
Philippe Clement waited 6 months to get deal done
Jefte provided the assist-to-the-assist in midweek, fizzing a crossfield ball out to Cerny seconds before Dessers levelled the score with 94 minutes on the clock.
Only an outstanding save from the Dynamo Kiev goalkeeper kept Dessers off the scoresheet earlier in the half, tipping a header round the post following another pinpoint Jefte ball.
The Brazilian is a left-back by trade. But, after replacing the ineffective Scott Wright at half-time, Clement introduced him in a more attacking role, ahead of Ridvan Yilmaz on the flank.
Clement, by his own admission, knew that Jefte could play further forward though this was not a weapon he planned to reveal this early into the 20-year-old’s Ibrox career.
“I thought it was a possibility, yeah,” the former Monaco boss adds. “But I didn’t think I had to do it now. But if other players don’t perform at that moment at the level they should perform to play, then you need to look for other solutions.”
Rangers were held to a 0-0 draw by Hearts on matchday one. Clement will be hoping to get a first win of the season on the board at Fir Park.
