Rangers fans might recall Jose Cordoba as a name which was linked to the club in January.
There were several footballers mentioned as potential transfer options in what was the first window of both Philippe Clement and Nils Koppen’s tenure at Rangers.
But whilst Rangers would move for Fabio Silva, Mohamed Diomande, and Oscar Cortes in January, there were no reinforcements at the centre of defence.
That’s despite Panamanian Levski Sofia defender Jose “Coto” Cordoba being mentioned in Bulgaria.
Now, the 22-year-old Central American is once again being linked to Ibrox ahead of what promises to be a busy summer in Glasgow.
What’s more, one leading Latin American journalist has suggested the Ibrox side are the most interesting option despite interest from Turkey, France, and ‘half of Europe’.
‘Impressive’ Rangers lead Cordoba pack
Jose Miguel Dominguez is a respected Latin American football journalist who has been speaking about the future of Jose Cordoba this week.
Speaking to Panamanian sports outlet El Marcador TV, Dominguez has spoke quite clearly about Rangers’ interest in the Panamanian defender.
Claiming that several clubs are interested in Cordoba, who is the ‘best central defender’ in Bulgaria, a fee of around €3m (£2.5m) would be enough to secure the defender’s signature.
“Jose ‘Coto’ Cordoba, he doesn’t travel here, he doesn’t travel there,” said Dominguez. “Suitors here, suitors there.
“There is strong interest from Scottish club Rangers. We also already know about Besiktas and teams from France, but there are other teams from Turkey too.
“Half of Europe sees ‘Coto’ Cordoba because it has huge potential and because he is so young. He is a leader and he was the best central defender in the Bulgarian league this season.
“And this says a lot about a footballer who is going for more.
“We understand he is rated around €2-3m (£1.7m-2.5m) and this is quite an affordable figure for teams that can afford it.”
Dominguez then expanded on the links to Rangers, suggesting that the Ibrox option is viewed as very ‘positive’ in the seemingly impending transfer battle for Jose Cordoba.
“This thing about Rangers is interesting,” said Dominguez. “To me it is an impressive link.
“It is a Scottish team that has money, has sporting ambition and that competes in the Champions League, or from time to time the Europa League.
“Things look positive for the future.”
Rangers transfer fits player trading model
It’s certainly an interesting transfer link from our point of view too.
At 22-years-old 6ft1 Jose Cordoba already has 10 caps for the Panama national team and is a star in the Levski Sofia team which is currently 5th in the Bulgarian top flight.
It’s also not the first time Rangers have been mentioned alongside the defender.
At that age and price the signing would certainly be in line with Rangers’ player trading ambitions and let’s see how things progress with the defender.
Rangers obviously currently have four first-team centre-backs on their books in Connor Goldson, Ben Davies, John Souttar and Leon Balogun.
Heading into the summer, there are some doubts surrounding Leon Balogun and Ben Davies.
Nigerian veteran Balogun could yet be offered a new contract and Ben Davies – who has spent five months out with injury – is yet to convince fans of his place in the team.
But as injury envelops the squad, we could certainly do with another defensive option at the club no matter what happens.
Jose Cordoba certainly ticks a lot of boxes.
