Sport
Journalist details fresh Rangers talks for new signing after failed Ibrox move
Rangers will keep avenues open on conversations with Fluminense defender Jefte, according to GIVEMESPORT’S Dean Jones.
The journalist explained that the Ibrox club like the left-back, who is on loan at APOEL Nicosia, and will continue to keep tabs on him.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano on X on 31 January, Rangers have a verbal pact in place to reactive the option to sign Jefte after their January move for him collapsed.
“It’s always a nice sign if you know that a player has been trying to cause a bit of a fuss to force a transfer to your club,” Jones told GIVEMESPORT (7 February). “That’s a player you want to embrace further down the line.
“It doesn’t always work out like that. Sometimes, that opportunity passes up. We’ve seen it in some high-profile cases before. For example, we had Joao Palhinha at Fulham, who was on the verge of joining Bayern Munich at one stage. He was at the training ground and had all his photos and interviews done, and then it didn’t happen. That deal didn’t resurface the following transfer window.
“So, it doesn’t always work out that the player has another opportunity to make the move. But Rangers did like him, and I’m sure they will continue to keep tabs on him. I understand they will keep avenues open on conversations with the player to reassure him that he’s still in their thoughts.”
Rangers still keen on Jefte?
Rangers were certainly busy in the January transfer window, which represented Philippe Clement’s first opportunity to buy and sell players at Ibrox.
And it was the former category in which he was much more active, bringing Fabio Silva, Oscar Cortes and Mohamed Diomande to the club, with all three signing on loan.
There was also a major exit, with midfielder Jose Cifuentes joining Cruzeiro, having only moved to Scotland from Los Angeles FC last summer.
All eyes will now focus on the coming summer window in terms of transfers, with Jefte perhaps the first player in the door.
It will certainly be interesting to see what happens in the left-back position at Rangers at the end of the season, with Borna Barisic and Ridvan Yilmaz having been battling it out for that role in recent times.
More interestingly, Barisic’s contract at Ibrox will expire at the end of the season, while Yilmaz has been linked with an exit.
