Rangers set for ‘very, very exciting’ transfer boost as Danilo and Jose Cifuentes set to be sealed – Jonny McFarlane
Rangers are expected to seal the signings of both Danilo from Feyenoord and Jose Cifuentes from LAFC before the end of the week, according to Jonny McFarlane.
The Brazilian-born Dutch striker and the Ecuador midfielder have been on the cards for some time now, with the latter mooted for the entire summer, but crucial breakthroughs have been made in recent days on both and they are set to become the eighth and ninth signings for Michael Beale.
Danilo, 24, who only signed for the Eredivisie side from rivals Ajax last summer is set to cost around £6million, while Cifuentes, also 24, will be brought in for a far smaller fee as his contract was set to expire in December anyway.
Speaking on the Rangers Review Morning Briefing on Wednesday (26 July, 1m 30s) McFarlane said: “I would expect Cifuentes and Danilo to be both arriving at some point later in the week, or to certainly be sealed at some point later in the week.
“This is going to be, especially with Danilo, a very, very exciting signing… It’s yet another high-quality attacking player to add to that front line.”
Excellent work
Beale must be delighted with the amount of work that is getting done in the transfer window, and if he is able to add another defender it would likely constitute a near-perfect summer in his eyes.
The Cifuentes deal had to wait for the break in the MLS season to get over the line, with the long-suspected agreement to bring him in at the end of his deal already agreed, as confirmed by the manager to Sky Sports on 21 July.
Danilo looked a speculative approach in the first instance just as Cyriel Dessers’ move from Cremonese seemed to have become bogged down over the valuation.
So for Rangers to spend the £4.5m [Mail Plus, 30 June] it took to land the Nigerian international from Italy and then still shell out more again to bring Danilo in as well is exactly the sort of ambition Gers fans will have wanted heading into the window.
Goalkeeper, attack, midfield and defence have all been strengthened now, and unless Beale has eyes on incorporating more wingers in his set up it looks like only the injury-prone nature of the centre-back group could be a possible weakness.
Should the manager be able to press ahead and get a deal for Jonathan Panzo, or an alternative, over the line in the final weeks of the window once these two moves are tied up, it will be a very strong haul for him to work with.
Most of the boxes have been ticked on paper now, so if it doesn’t translate into a strong start to the season it would be a major let down.
In other Rangers news, a parallel transfer looks to have collapsed after talks despite a fee being agreed as footage is released.