Hot on the heels of the signing of Diomande, Rangers have quickly secured agreement with Fluminese left back Jefté Vital da Silva Dias, 20, or Jefté as he’s better known.
The Brazilian defender will be signed on a deal till 2027 with his currently being on loan at Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias.
Or APOEL to you and I, of Cyprus – they need to give this the green light first before it can be completed.
It’s been murmured about this lad for a while, and we know as much about his CV as you do, but a quick fact check reveals a pretty healthy career in Cyprus, with 2 goals and 3 assists in 20 appearances, which for a 20-year-old left back on his first excursion outside his homeland isn’t at all bad.
It’s not earth-shattering, true, and it’s not quite Marcello, but it has implications.
Is he being signed to free Ridvan for sale, or Borna for his proposed move to Roma?
Rangers are making a signing at left back, and that’s a significant thing to do – he’s not a 17-year-old prospect, like Ross McCausland this is a maturing and developing player who is unlikely to be one for the Academy.
Especially as he’s just had a full season at senior level in Cyprus.
He even has some Europa Conference League experience under his belt, having played 90 v Gent in the qualifiers first round. APOEL were comfortably beaten.
But we’re not going to pretend we know his dad and we know all about this kid.
We have been aware of the links, but we left that one be until something more concrete showed up, and now clearly it has.
This one was broken by Romano, who literally never gets this stuff wrong.
So, before too long, he’ll have the scarf we’re sure.