Rangers moved out a couple of players in January who were deemed surplus to requirements by Philippe Clement with Jose Cifuentes one of those left.
The Gers boss gave the Ecuador international a chance to stake his claim in the side and was starting to improve until suspension and injury struck, the arrival of Mohamed Diomande putting him even further down the pecking order.
His move from Rangers was confirmed, however, until recently, there were doubts about his work permit to play for Cruzeiro although this has now been confirmed by manager Nicolás Larcamon.
Rangers flop Jose Cifuentes has path cleared to play
Hopefully, Cifu will get the chance to play regulary because there is an option to buy clause as part of the deal.
The better he plays, the better the chance that they will take up that option and that Philippe Clement will have more money to spend.
Due to Brazil’s season being during the calander year, it could be extra money to spend for next January’s window.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s fixture with Pousa Alegre, Larcamon explained the hold up:
“Jose Cifuentes has now received his permit and has been registered to play with the Brazilian FA.
“We are looking forward to what he can bring to the group. The loan is until December when Cruzeiro will make a decision on him.”
Having not played competitively for the Ibrox outfit since the 30th of December, the 24-year old will be a bit rusty in terms of fitness and match sharpness.
He’s also been in limbo for the last few weeks after agreeing the deal.
Cifuentes has been back “home” in Los Angeles and, for all that he will have been ticking over, it’s been a transfer that has taken a few weeks to be finalised after being agreed.
Injury free though, there is no reason why Jose Cifuentes can’t squeeze his way onto Cruzeiro’s bench and kick-start a career that stalled when he moved to Rangers.
He is a good player, but never really seemed to settle in Glasgow and the biggest problem seemed to be adapting to a totally different system and style of play.
Cifuentes still has a good reputation in terms of his international profile and MLS pedigree.
Signing him when he was nearing the end of his Los Angeles FC contract will benefit Rangers in that the going price for an Ecuador international midfielder is significantly more than the £1.2m we reportedly paid for his services.
Let’s hope he hits the ground running faster than he did when he first set foot in Ibrox.
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