Shortly before the January transfer window, when Rangers reportedly agreed terms to bring the youngster to Ibrox, one of the club’ leading winter targets opened up on his admiration for a bonafide Real Madrid legend.
And if the 20-year-old possesses even a quarter of the ability of that five-time Champions League winner, Rangers will be onto something pretty good.
“I try to show my skill and creativity,” Jefte Vital told Globo Esporte. “At my former club, I played on the wing too, so I already had the skills. I just needed to improve my marking.
“I’m inspired by Marcelo. He’s very different and makes absurd plays on the wing. I always watch videos of him and imagine being like him one day. Playing professionally for Fluminense, for the national team and then in Europe.”
Those comments should also act as a marker as to what Rangers can can expect from Jefte if indeed he does eventually end up at Glasgow, six months later than first planned. Plenty of attacking, plenty of ambition froma typically buccaneering Braziliuan full-back.
Borna Barisic‘s impending departure means Philippe Clement will be in the market for a left-sided full-back this summer.
APOEL Nicosia blocked Jefte hopes of a mid-season move to Scotland, however, and could yet complicate matters again. The Cypriot outfit have the option to turn his loan into a permanent transfer, although that clause expires at the end of the May.
Rangers’ Jefte Vital pursuit is complex
“There will be four or five, maximum six, additions,” APOEL president Prodromos Petridis tells RIK. “We don’t want to make the mistakes of the past. We will not make unreasonable moves. We will move within the framework of the Cypriot reality.
“Until May 31st, there is room for the clause (regarding Jefte).”
Will APOEL look to sign Jefte permanently and then sell him on to Rangers, thus making an immediate profit? Or, instead, could Fluminense take a leaf out of Bayern Munich’s playbook and look to terminate that arrangement, in the hope of selling Jefte for a bigger sum elsewhere.
Bayern did exactly that when Rangers tried to retain the services of Malik Tillman, the USA international sealing a £12 million move to PSV Eindhoven 12 months later.
Petridis is under no illusions that, despite holding an option-to-buy clause, striking a deal with Jefte may be easier said than done. APOEL also have alternatives lined up if Rangers finally end up getting their mitts on the talented full-back.
APOEL Nicosia planning for all eventualities
“We should have the player’s signature, we sent the message to Fluminense to exercise the right to acquire the player,” the president adds. “It’s not an easy case.
“We have other solutions.”
Jefte, who apologised to APOEL after trying and failing to force through his move to Rangers in the winter, has scored three goals and set up four more in the Cypriot top-flight this season.
Clement and co do appear to be closing in on summer signing number one, however, with Jefte’s fellow left-footer Jose Cordoba in advanced talks over a move to Ibrox.
Rangers have reportedly submitted a £2.5 million bid for the Levski Sofia defender.
