Rangers star set Ibrox exit date as red tape leaves him with foreign waiting game and gruelling journey

Jose Cifuentes will leave Glasgow on Friday as he eyes a week on Thursday as his official Rangers exit date.

The midfielder signed for the Ibrox club in the summer after showing promise at LAFC. Former manager Michael Beale was the man who brought him in from the MLS but it's not a move that has worked out.

He has been a bit-part player and has had his minutes reduced under new gaffer Philippe Clement. Cifuentes was linked with leaving Rangers for South America and Cruzeiro in January on a loan deal with an option to buy.

Brazil's transfer window is open until March 7th so there is plenty of time for a deal to be done. But red tape is currently holding things up as Cifuentes looks to move on from his miserable Rangers spell.

According to reports in South America, it was expected that the midfielder would arrive this week to seal his move. Now it won't go through until next week, with Thursday 15th a date that has been earmarked.

Brazilian employment laws require him to complete paperwork in his homeland and that is why he won't be presented in Belo Horizonte until next Thursday. That leaves him with a lengthy journey to complete his move.

He will jet out of Glasgow on Friday for Ecuador and collect documentation for the move to go through in Brazil. Cifuentes has only made six starts in blue but could be set for a rapid Brazilian introduction.

The Ecuadorian is expected to make his Cruzeiro bow against Democrata in the Campeonato Mineiro state league next Sunday.