Reported Rangers target Jose Cifuentes plays the entire game for LAFC as they fall to defeat against the Vancouver Whitecaps in a five-goal California thriller.
Ecuadorean international Jose Cifuentes, 24, played the entire game for the USA outfit, starting in the middle of the park alongside American midfielder Daniel Crisostomo and Polish star Mateusz Bogusz.
LAFC found themselves two goals down in the match courtesy of strikes from Ranko Veselinovic and Brian White, before Denis Bouanga pulled one back on the stroke of half-time for LAFC.
Mexican attacker Carlos Vela would then equalise for LAFC before Scottish playmaker Ryan Gauld stole the headlines with the eventual winner just past the hour mark.
The result drops Jose Cifuentes and LAFC off the top of the Western Conference, the Los Angeles side below St Louis on goal difference but with a game in hand.
Jose Cifuentes continues hectic LAFC schedule
The clash with Vancouver was Jose Cifuentes’ 15th game of the MLS campaign and his 22nd of the season for LAFC, with the midfielder currently in the middle of a hectic schedule.
Rangers fans had their heads turned during the most recent international break with Cifuentes playing two matches – a friendly for Ecuador and an MLS clash with LAFC – within 24 hours of each other.
Jose Cifuentes’ latest LAFC appearance means he played three times in only four days (21st, 22nd and 25th of June) with the regular appearances raising doubts over how close a switch to Rangers may be.
There are several reports suggesting everything is in place for Rangers to strike a deal for Jose Cifuentes, but as things stand he is still an LAFC player.
The latest claims come from Ecuador and suggest that Rangers are now only “one step away” from securing a deal, the club needing first to negotiate a transfer fee with LAFC.
This comes with Jose Cifuentes out of contract at the end of the year and Rangers potentially waiting until July 1st, when the midfielder can officially sign a pre-contract in Glasgow.
