Mexican star to replace James Tavernier? Reports

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Mexican star to replace James Tavernier? Reports

 Article by: Richard Fillingham

José Abella is rated as a top class 23-year-old right-back, who has already played under Caixinha at Santos Laguna and made his first team debut under him in 2013.

When it came to choosing his first choice right back, after it became apparent Callum Paterson was unlikely to make it to Govan, there was only one choice for Ped the Ted and that was José Abella.

He also holds a Spanish passport, which prevents work permit issues from over complicating a move to Scotland.

José has also played 8 times for the Mexican National U20 side and scored 3 goals from the right back position, which is very impressive. He also played for Mexico U23’s in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

José Abella made his Mexican league debut with Santos Laguna on the 26 July 2013 in a 3–2 home game win against Cruz Azul. Abella played for the full 90 minutes and received a very early yellow card in only the 8′ minute of the match, but he held his nerves and watched his discipline and played extremely well throughout the game, much to Pedro’s extreme pleasure.

With the arrival of Portuguese coach Pedro Caixinha, Abella became the regular starter in the Apertura 2013 season. Ever since Osmar Mares was injured and José received the full confidence of his new coach.

José Abella was officially given a contract on 1 July 2013. during the Clausura 2014 season, Abella played in all 90 minutes of every match contested and Santos reached the Semi-finals, losing to Pachuca on a 4–4 aggregate score. With José missing one match due to a previous red card suspension.

Abella played an impressive 47 games last season for Santos Laguna as they went on to win the league. He has continued his impressive form this season and also featured in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Pedro has described José as a very strong physical full back who has terrific ability as an attacking full back. He has real pace that he puts to good use going forward and is very solid defensively.

So far José has played in 123 matches for Santos Laguna and rumour has it that he would be delighted to join up with Rangers’ new Mexican midfielder Carlos Pena and to work again with his favourite manager – Rangers’ very own – Pedro Caixinha.

The future appears to be very bright for this young full back and he is already showcasing himself in the Mexican top flight and also the CONCACAF Champions League.

The next step for Abella will be to hold down a first team place at Ibrox if the move can be secured, and then force his way into the full national team, which surely cannot be far away. If Caixinha can manage this one, surely RB is sorted at long last.

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27 COMMENTS

  1. Tav and Wallace are not the answers for us going forward and Ped has recognized this, both will be replaced, Abello appears to be the choice to replace Tav, but who will replace Wallace????
    Alves will be captain next season.
    Before anyone starts i am fully aware what Wallace has done for us, he has sacrificed his career effectively to remain at Rangers but 4 years in the dregs of Scottish football would be difficult for anyone to maintain a decent standard so my heart goes out to him, but we need to look forward and put sentiment aside, we will not be carrying passengers next season.

    • Lee has done well with what he has. A great engine. Tireless work ethic. Gets up and down, but can get caught out behind and isn't a great tackler. Shows opponents the line we;l though. No silly diving in.
      No right foot and that's putting it mildly. That seems to unbalance him, even when he has a crack with his left. He has a strange action. Won't be leaving this season.Good cover at least.
      Will always be admired at Ibrox no matter what happens now.

  2. I glad we have another right back because Tavernier was never a right back so now we can feel a bit safer on that side

  3. We needed another right-back, Tavernier was NEVER good in that position,maybe he can be better in another but we need guys who dont back down from other players,that was our major problem,last season….

  4. Hey pedro better get the number one spot or he is out of a job with the money he is going spend on wages etc,lol but i just hope that this is not just a old pals act get me 10k ped and i will come play for you,going be good watch i trust in Ped that he has got the lads that want to play for the shirt not the money.

  5. Such mixed feelings about our transfer window to date. Fantastic to see all the new players signed or linked and money being spent which is a surprise. We all know the exceptions at our club are massive and we wont tolerate 3rd place again and we would be looking to close the gap on celtic to 10 points or so though we would all admit winning the league this year is a pipe dream. If all goes well we might have a few players who would become financial assets and a steady manager. On the flip side if we dont do well the fans will force pedro out and our squad will be full of Mexican/Portuguese players loyal to the current management team, a bad season wont help future sales of current investments. Though Warburtons second season was a disaster the financial imprecations were minimal(lets not mention Joey) and most of the players were British or plied their trade in Britain meaning a change of manager would be easier to integrate. If we have to go through the route of sacking an untried manager of limited success signing players he knows personally we could be in deep trouble when the replacement is chosen. If had went for Derek McInnes for arguments sake, at least he would have bought players that would most likely be able to handle his sacking if that indeed was the final outcome.Do these guys speak English or is Pedro going to be the translator as well. A couple of foreign players i could understand but 6 or 7 might be difficult to integrate and we could be in danger of having a split squad. This appointment is a massive gamble and the board are trusting this guy to the max, i hope for simply the best. I fear for the worst

    • Well said. I'm starting to get concerned with all the foreign players. We need more Scottish boys in.

    • The problem is most of the players / teams in Scotland hate us, and then want huge fees for there players. Most teams in Scotland work on free transfers yet once we enquire about a player they want 1-2million, there jist being gready, and I'm glad we aren't paying money to keep these teams alive.

    • I have to say while I am delighted with the recruitment so far I share the concerns that if we sign many more players from Portugal or Mexico then this may upset the balance of the dressing room as well as presenting a risk on the field as the team (as well as management) will have on the whole have very little experience of Scottish football. We need to have a strong contingent of Scottish players and I would have preferred to see us compete with Cardiff for Calumn Paterson's signature rather than going for another Mexican at full back. Priority now should be to get the deal for Dorrans done!

    • Dexter in complete agreement with you re Paterson, imo he should have been our prime target after Alves…we should have pushed till we got him. On the transfer fees being banded about…I don't believe any of these fees being mentioned…my feeling is Level five are behind most of these figures.

    • I share your view, should Pedro finish two seasons 15 or 20 points behind celtic, he will be gone.

      What next? Paul le guen case is coming up in my mind, another exodus then? Another 'revolution'? Building the team is carried out step by step, not by massive overhaul. Im really worrying for our future, sorry fellow bears

  6. Richard, I can almost feel the delight in your words at getting a possible replacement for Tav and the vast majority of bears will empathise with you. I personally don't mind him, just not as a defender! So bring on Jocky Abello along with the other Mexicans. I'm getting excited about next season. (Spot the Freudian slip there)

  7. I think for the first time in years, Wallace might have a few decent players around him and he'll really come to life again. Same goes for McKay. With some steel and energy in the team, the flair players like Barry McKay and a fit Kranjcar will really shine. The big question is how long will it take for these Mexican and Portuguese players to settle in?

  8. Patterson would have been a tremendous signing for us.I'd be gutted to learn if we never tried for him.Better than the"brave man"Teirney.A wee burst lip ffs.A brave man would've wiped his mooth and got on with it.The Mexican boy? Don't know anything about him so I'll defer to Pedro's expertise.

  9. It is Pedro's arse on the line, definitely. For the kind of cash he's spreading around (were it all true), he could have picked some good players closer to home.
    Disappointing about Paterson, never quite believed the Walker/Naismith/Maclean stuff, but I still think we need something middle to front a la Dorrans, especially if he's not for keeping wee Barrie.

  10. If Abello is signed as a full back then it frees up Tav to be an attacking right side midfield player, he has the skill.

  11. I like Pedro a lot and understand him wanting players in he knows and can trust, but my only worry is are all these Mexican and Portuguese players going to fancy it up Dingwall, Perth and Aberdeen on a winters night !! Think it's imperative we keep our Scottish/British identity so keeping guys like Wallace, Tav is a big must for me and hopefully these new guys with pedro's guidance could bring guys like Tav,Windass,Mckay on to game.

  12. This is defo looking a goer for the RB slot. Ped knows the boys qualities inside out and must rate him highly. While Patterson would've been everybody's preferred choice ( his words Cardiff are a big Club ) bottom line he went for the money as he'd get more in the Championship. We all know that Rangers are an institution not just a big Club. Personally good luck to him cause he ain't getting to the PL with that mob if that was hopes..The boys that are coming in must know this system that he uses the same as JM used at Porto with Alves.. HOF shouldn't hopefully be far away either hopefully. I mean Stranraer have even got one now.. Things are defo on the rise Bears

  13. Then that is that let the show begin and let us all see what we bought and how good they play beat Selltic and i will be a happy laddie for sure.

  14. Lee is a legend at Ibrox for his great service and loyalty and I believe he will still be in this team ..Tav however is at most indifferent most games the better the squad the better our season . Looking forward to the season WATP

  15. Going by this morning rags it ain't happening… Reports say Peds got another target for RB position anybody got any ideas on who that might be? As for the Chelsea striker rumour I sprayed my coffee all over lol.. Don't call it silly season for nothing.. Good to see Kelly sign for another 2yrs high hopes for him at Rangers

  16. We need born and bred foke in no just UK passport he needs at least top 2 if not number one spot these big spending he is doing hope its not going to come back to haunt us like last time. We need scottish players aswell so hope you know what your doing pedro

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