BBC journalist wowed by Rangers bid to sign Jose Cifuentes as ‘cannon’ shot verdict shared
Rangers target Jose Cifuentes has the strength and physicality to perform well for the Glasgow side and should find the switch to British football easy, according to BBC journalist Tim Vickery.
The current Los Angeles FC midfielder has been linked with a move to Michael Beale’s side [Daily Record] having impressed in the MLS and is reportedly keen on joining [The Sun].
Now, the 24-year-old Ecuadorian international looks set to use his impressive abilities in Scotland and become the latest signing for a reported £1.2million [Daily Record] in a productive window for Rangers.
Speaking to talkSPORT [talkSPORT via Daily Record], Vickery said: “He’s a big barrel-chested central midfielder. He went to the World Cup as a reserve, he’s been on the fringe now.
“He’s been in the MLS with LAFC for a while. But you look at him physically and you think ‘No problem adapting to British football’. He can work box-to-box and has a cannon of a shot in him.
“I actually expected him to make more progress, to be honest, when I first saw him four years. I thought he was really going to come through, he hasn’t quite yet done what I expected but I think he would be a solid piece of business.”
A new profile in the squad
Vickery has tipped Cifuentes for a solid start to life in Glasgow. He possessed some very desirable attributes and the SPL is a good league to show this off.
Adapting from the MLS to the SPL should not be a challenge for Cifuentes who has shone in America with his physical presence and progressive play and he would add a new dimension to Rangers’ midfield.
A glance at Cifuentes’ stats when compared to his positional counterpart John Lundstram shows that the Ecuadorean is a vast upgrade in many areas.
Cifuentes’ 7.82 progressive passes per 90 (93rd percentile) dwarfs Lundstram’s 2.40 (3rd percentile), while his 4.27 shot-creating actions (92nd percentile) [FBRef] makes the Englishman’s 0.60 look amateur [FBRef].
While Lundstram and Cifuentes have different profiles and roles despite their shared position on the pitch, the stats show that this new signing certainly gives Rangers a new profile of a player who focuses more on goal-creation and progression rather than defence and control.
Furthermore, while he is no serial goalscorer, Cifuentes has shown off his “cannon” of a shot and an eye for goal by earning himself seven in 2022 along with eight assists.
Vickery’s insight also claimed that Cifuentes’ development is coming along slower than he anticipated, so perhaps the change of scenery and adaption to a new style of football could give him the platform to reach the heights he has been tipped to.
In other Rangers news, one of the club’s title-winning heroes has demanded t leave the club amid interest from Turkey.