George Overhill

Wed 12 July 2023 20:10, UK

Rangers remain “confident” that can convince LAFC to part with Jose Cifuentes this summer rather than signing him for free in December, Football Scotland reports.

While Leon Balogun is now in as the quick seventh signing of Michael Beale’s rebuild after a significant injury to Leon King, progress on the Ecuador international midfielder has been decidedly slower.

His contract expires in the winter but he is currently in the middle of the MLS season and played the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw with San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday (9 July). However, despite LAFC holding out for a seven-figure fee the Gers expect to find a way to get it done.

According to Football Scotland: “Gers are also working on a deal to land long-term target Jose Cifuentes, who is out of contract in December. Beale has made it clear he wants the Ecuador international midfielder in the door now, but it’s believed Los Angeles FC are holding out for £1.2m.

“And while the two clubs remain locked in negotiations, Rangers remain confident that they’ll be able to persuade their MLS counterparts to sell now rather than lose him for nothing in the winter.”

Blink

It obviously isn’t conducive to an simple agreement for one side of this set of negotiations to be in full-on transfer mode while the other is mid-season.

And unlike Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin in January, who both arrived with six months remaining left on their contracts after being largely unwanted at their previous clubs, Cifuentes remains an active contributor in Los Angeles.

Every game he plays has the potential for him to pick up an injury that would scupper this move until the winter, but it seems clear that the 24-year-old represents an important part of Beale’s plans for the the club to remain in talks this long.

Indications are that Cifuentes himself is sold on the deal, and there may be an agreement on personal terms ready for December either way.

Should a club put some money on the table to sign one of the peripheral first-team figures at Ibrox it might free up the extra cash that is needed to get this signing over the line.

But it appears that Rangers think LAFC’s demands are currently too high otherwise they would surely have just met them by now.

There is plenty of time left in the window yet but preseason is now passing by, so if the Light Blues are confident on this one it would be better that they succeeded sooner rather than later.

In other Rangers news, yet another Beale target has had has head turned by the opportunity on offer at Ibrox.