Jose Cifuentes mystery ignites Rangers transfer belief as star man posted missing on LAFC's big night

Rangers target Jose Cifuentes appears to be edging closer to a move to Ibrox after mysteriously being left out of his club's weekend defeat.

The Ecuadorian international has been strongly linked with a move to Rangers for months now as Michael Beale's side continue a huge rebuilding process. Cifuentes wasn't involved in his club Los Angeles FC's 2-0 home defeat to FC Dallas in their weekend MLS encounter.

And his manager, Steve Cherundolo, looked decidedly uncomfortable when quizzed after the game about Cifuentes' absence. He said: "I believe we covered that in our injury status report. It was just loading purposes." However, Cifuentes wasn't listed in Los Angeles FC's own Player Availability report ahead of the game either as 'out' or 'questionable.'

Cifuentes is in the last six months of his deal and Rangers want to secure a cut-price move for him as they continue to splash out ahead of the new campaign. He's played in 15 games in the MLS this season and has yet to score.

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