There’s been yet another twist in Rangers’ pursuit of LAFC’s Jose Cifuentes after it emerged the club is waiting for the 1st of July before securing the Ecuadorian, as July 1 will be when the club can secure him on a precontract with his deal expiring in December.

With the MLS on a completely different season structure to Europe, the North American football marque league signs players in a different time zone with a different structure, and in Cifuentes’ case the earliest Rangers can properly negotiate a precontract with him is next month.

The clubs currently sit somewhat apart on a financial package, with 6+ months of the 24-year-old’s deal to go, and it’s too early to be able to legally speak to the player directly – as of July 1 the club can do exactly that, but we’re three weeks away from that.

As things stand, there is a difference in fee, with LAFA wanting a lot more than the 6-figures Rangers have offered. They also know Premier League sides are interested in the player, but unless one offers a big chunk of cash now when he’s essentially free in 21 days, Rangers remain in pole position.

Which is a good caveat for Michael Beale to have – Rangers remain in first place for the Ecuadorian, and he is said to be very keen. Sources have confirmed contact between all parties for this move, and Cifuentes has given it the thumbs up.

The question now is waiting on the July first date for Cifuentes to be free to sign a deal for Rangers legally, given he will be in Bosman territory and free to speak and indeed sign any contract he wishes up till Christmas.

Rangers have a bit of red tape to deal with before the deal is secured, but it’s nothing impossible. Once it’s three weeks down the line, the red tape will be much less and Rangers should be able to get that reduced fee for Cifuentes given it’s the last few months of his deal in the MLS.

Worth around £15M, Cifuentes could cost Rangers less than a million, so he’s well worth waiting for.