Rangers “Close” To Signing “Physical” International

Rangers “should be in a place” within a week to “cement” their deal for Los Angeles FC’s Jose Cifuentes and get him “through the door”, claims transfer insider Dean Jones.

Ranger transfer news – what’s the latest on Jose Cifuentes?

The opening weeks of the summer transfer window have already seen a flurry of new faces make their way to Ibrox, such as Ben Davies from Liverpool and Ridvan Yilmaz from Besiktas.

In total, the Teddy Bears have already spent £12.42m on new arrivals and welcomed ten new players to the club.

This busyness has somewhat slowed the club’s pursuit of Ecuadorian midfielder Cifuentes. However, with much of their dealings now complete, the club can focus their attention back towards the dynamic midfielder.

The player will be entering the final six months of his contract with the Californian club from July 1st and will be free to sign a pre-contract with the Glaswegian giants.

The Daily Mail has reported that Rangers expect the 24-year-old to ‘pen-to-paper’ with them next month, from which point they will attempt to negotiate a fee for his early release from the American side.

What has transfer insider Dean Jones said about Jose Cifuentes to Rangers?

Jones was confident the deal would soon be completed, and the Gers would have their man.

Speaking to Football FanCast, he said: “I think in a week we should be in a place where Rangers are looking to cement this one and get Cifuentes through the door.”

How good is Jose Cifuentes?

The Major League Soccer season is currently underway, so there is slightly less data on his most recent campaign to comb through.

Still, according to WhoScored, the Ecuadorian international has averaged a respectable match rating of 6.78 across his 15 games so far this term, assisting two goals along the way.

He has garnered high praise from his own countrymen as well, with Ecuadorian football expert Benedikt Duda saying:

“Cifuentes is a no.8, who is physical and strong in defence with a tendency to get involved in the attack.

His assistant manager Marc Dos Santos went a step further, suggesting the player could offer even more going forward, saying:

“Cifuentes is a bit more forward-thinking and is best suited as a no.8 or even as a no.10. I would describe him almost as a half-eight.”

Dos Santos might just be onto something as well, as according to FBref, the 24-year-old gem averages 1.21 successful take-ons,0.21 expected assists, 0.17 non-penalty expected goals, 2.69 touches in the oppositions penalty area and 4.24 sho-creating actions, all per 90.

Those characteristics could help him take the Scottish Premiership by storm and help Rangers reclaim the league title from their cross-city rivals, Celtic.

If the Gers can get this deal done, they could have a burgeoning star on their books.