Money wasted: Rangers were rinsed by an “exciting” talent who earned more than Sima – opinion

The £1.2m signing failed to make a mark in Glasgow before his exit in January.

Glasgow Rangers overhauled their playing squad last summer when they allowed former head coach Michael Beale to sanction a host of departures and arrivals.

The likes of Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, Glen Kamara, Antonio Colak, and Scott Arfield were allowed to leave, either on free transfers or for fees, and that opened the door for signings to come in.

Beale swooped to snap up Abdallah Sima, Jack Butland, Jose Cifuentes, Kieran Dowell, Dujon Sterling, Danilo, Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, and Leon Balogun to bolster his options across the park.

Those additions failed to have the desired effect on the pitch within the English manager’s system, and he was sacked by the Scottish giants at the start of October.

Belgian tactician Philippe Clement replaced him in the dugout and has already secured his first trophy at the club with a League Cup win over Aberdeen in the final.

A damning indictment on some of Beale’s signings came in the form of two of those nine additions being allowed to depart on loan during the January transfer window.

Clement allowed Cifuentes to join Cruzeiro in Brazil after the central midfielder, who earns more than Sima in wages, rinsed the Gers during his time at Ibrox.

How much Rangers paid to sign Jose Cifuentes

The Scottish side swooped to sign the Colombian central midfielder from MLS outfit Los Angeles FC on a four-year contract in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of £1.2m.

Shortly after the move was confirmed, Beale described the young dynamo as an “exciting” player who needed to prove himself on the pitch at Ibrox.

He had made 121 appearances for LAFC during his time in America, having joined them from CD Universidad Católica in his home country in January 2020.

There were some warning signs for Rangers ahead of his move to Scotland, however, as his form in the MLS had dipped from the 2022 to the 2023 campaign.

As you can see in the table above, Cifuentes’ performances were far more impressive during the 2022 season in comparison to his displays in 2023 before his move to Ibrox.

He provided a greater threat at the top end of the pitch to go along with better defensive work, as he made more tackles and was dribbled past fewer times by opposition players.

His declining form for LAFC, with the benefit of hindsight, should have been picked up on by Beale. That said, the English tactician may have felt that he could get the midfielder back to his best with his coaching and tactics at Rangers.

Unfortunately, Cifuentes did not hit the ground running with Rangers and struggled throughout the first half of the 2023/24 campaign before his loan move away from the club in January of this year.

Jose Cifuentes Rangers stats

The 25-year-old flop – per Salary Sport – was on a wage of £16k-per-week in Glasgow and earned more than £400k in wages across roughly 27 weeks in Scotland before his move on loan to Cruzeiro in February.

This meant that the central midfielder rinsed Rangers for around £1.6m during his seven months of service, and it remains unknown as to how much of his wages – if any – they are covering during his current loan spell.

He is currently on loan to the Brazilian side until December of this year, and they have an option to make it a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee ahead of the January transfer window in 2025.

Based on his short time in Glasgow, Rangers may be hoping that Cruzeiro will ultimately take up that option so that they can recoup some of the money that has been wasted on him so far.

Cifuentes made 20 appearances in all competitions for the Gers under Beale and Clement during the first half of the season, which included nine outings in the Scottish Premiership.