After signing Mohamed Diomande, Rangers have been linked with some exciting players in Oscar Cortes and Fluminense’s on-loan left-back Jefte.
The Brazilian defender looks exactly like the prototype South American full-back, however, Gers boss Philippe Clement should be wary about the 20-year old after news coming out of Cyprus.
Apoel Nicosia aren’t happy, not just because Rangers might be signing Jefte from under their nose but because they haven’t seen him since last week, according to Derek Clark of The Rangers Review.
Rangers hit hurdle in deal for left-back Jefte
Writing on X, Clark claims that the full-back hasn’t been seen at the club since last Thursday.
The transfer for Jefte is a complicated one.
Apoel have a transfer embargo due to having debts in excess of £25m so, even if they wanted to exercise their right to buy the on-loan left-back, they wouldn’t be allowed to.
However…
Contracts are always more complicated than this because, if Rangers want Jefte for their squad now, they will have to negotiate with Fluminense who will then have to pay Apoel a £400,000 compensation payment.
A deal that Fabrizio Romano claims has been agreed.
It’s almost exactly like the situation Rangers fans saw in the summer when Malik Tillman moved to PSV Eindhoven despite Michael Beale claiming that a permanent move to Ibrox was on the cards.
The circumstances are slightly different but there are ways in which option to buy clauses can be circumvented.
Going AWOL isn’t exactly an encouraging sign though.
Will he down tools if things don’t go his way in Glasgow?
What is interesting on Clark’s part is that he mentions that there has been no contact between Rangers or Fluminense and Apoel.
This is because, if Philippe Clement wants Jefte now, Rangers will be dealing with Fluminense first and would have virtually nothing to do with Apoel, as confirmed by Romano.
Technically, Jefte is still a Fluminense player.
As with the Tillman deal, the Brazilians will have to pay the cancellation fee to Apoel but this will probably be factored into what we have to pay.
All we need to do now is find the player to get his medical done!
