Rangers: Jefte absent from APOEL squad as Ibrox personal terms agreed, chief confirms ‘internal issue’
An “internal issue” kept Jefte out of the APOEL squad on Friday night amid speculation linking the Brazilian left-back with a move to Rangers.
APOEL’s head of communication Nektarios Petevinos was forced to explain the 20-year-old’s absence as the Nicosia club won 4-0 away at Nea Salamis in the Cypriot First Division.
Earlier on 27 January, Fabrizio Romano reported via X that Rangers had reached an agreement with Fluminense to sign Jefte, who is currently on loan at APOEL.
It was claimed that the deal is in place but all that remains is for APOEL to sanction terminating Jefte’s loan.
Petevinos didn’t confirm that anything was going on in terms of transfers but did suggest that the left-back’s absence on Friday wasn’t fitness-related.
“With Jefte there is an internal issue that the team is handling, when there is something we will inform you,” Petevinos said on Friday (27 January), as quoted by APOEL Group.
“For [Kingsley] Sarfo there is a discussion at the moment but since there is nothing I can officially report, please be patient and we will let you know in the next 24-48 hours.”
As good a sign as any
Jefte was most likely missing because he’s finished as an APOEL player.
The Nicosia club have a game on Tuesday (30 January) against Karmiotissa, meaning that Jefte could still play again for them if he doesn’t have his loan terminated until the last 48 hours of the transfer window.
But all the signs suggest that this is a deal that’s going to go through for Rangers.
Jefte has his heart seemingly set on heading to Ibrox with Romano reporting that personal terms have been agreed upon by the academy product at Fluminense, who have also produced Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Fabinho, Joao Pedro and Luiz Henrique in recent years.
Before Romano’s tweet on Friday, APOEL Group reported that the Light Blues had made an offer to APOEL, seemingly as a way of compensating them for terminating the 20-year-old’s loan.
If that offer is good enough, this deal could be done in a matter of days and Jefte won’t have to miss out on another matchday squad in Cyprus.
In other Rangers news, a fresh clue has emerged in the Gers’ bid to complete a last-ditch signing.
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