Jose Cifuentes set for shock Rangers transfer exit as Turkish troops tee up £2m summer fee shot

Cifuentes is on his way out after an approach from Rizespor in Turkey.

Rangers are about to offload midfield misfit Jose Cifuentes after accepting a bid from Turkish club Rizespor.

The Ibrox club will let the Ecuador international leave in this window, with other clubs in Europe and South America also keen on the 24-year-old. Cifuentes is on the verge of securing a loan deal, with Rizespor having the option to buy him for a fee of around £2million in the summer.

He only arrived at Ibrox in August for £1.2 million as one of ex-boss Michael Beale's blue chip signings from MLS outfit Los Angeles FC. But Cifuentes has been a bit-part player, managing just 20 appearances in all competitions this term so far. And now gaffer Philippe Clement is set to let him go as he bids to strengthen his squad in the January window by adding Brazilian left-back Jefte to his ranks.

He looks certain to arrive from Fluminense with Rangers close to getting a deal over the line. He's currently on loan at Cypriot outfit APOEL but was left out of their squad for a 4-0 win over Nea Salamis on Friday night.

The 20-year-old looks certain to become Philippe Clement's third signing of the January transfer window on a three-and-a-half year deal, following Fabio Silva from Wolves and Mohamed Diomande from FC Nordsjaelland. But Jefte's arrival might NOT mean a January exit for Turkish left-back Ridvan Yilmaz.

Reports in Turkey last night claimed that Galatasaray have made a fresh bid for the 22-year-old after having a previous offer rejected by Gers. But Record Sport understands no fresh bids have been received for Yilmaz, who started yesterday's 1-0 Premiership win over St Mirren.

After the victory in Paisley, Clement stayed tight-lipped on bringing Jefte to Ibrox, as well as Rangers' efforts to sign another striker. Cyriel Dessers scored his 12th goal of the season to beat the Buddies and keep the pressure on Celtic at the top of the Premiership.

When asked if he expected to be busy in the last few days of the window, which closes on Thursday night, Clement said: “Yes because that’s my job so we will be busy until the last second probably.

“It’s not just about me and Nils Koppen (head of recruitment). It’s with a lot of people in the building. We make decisions together and work together.

“That was one of the reasons I came to Rangers - it’s really transparent and open. Do we still need another striker? That’s a good question. But I’m too long in the game to respond to that.

“I won’t speak about positions but I’m happy with what Cyriel is doing. I’m also happy with Fabio Silva. We’ll continue with that and see what we’re going to do in the next couple of days.”

When quizzed on the imminent arrival of Jefte, Clement said: “I haven’t spoken to Nils, James Bisgrove or the chairman (John Bennett) and I haven’t looked at my phone yet. If there’s nothing signed with the player I can’t say anything.”

Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.