Jose Cifuentes was mysteriously left out of the Los Angeles FC squad amidst reports his switch to Rangers is edging closer.
The Ecuadorian international has been on Michael Beale's radar with a transfer saga unfolding across the summer. Cifuentes is a key man for the MLS side and has just six months remaining on his contract in California. But Rangers are set to prize him on a move to Glasgow before he season kicks off in August.
And the 24-year-old was a shock omission as LAFC were beaten by rivals FC Dallas. The previous Celtic target has spoken of his desire to move to Scotland and he wasn't included in this morning's defeat away to Dallas. The whereabouts of the midfield battler prompted an array of questions from the press to LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo.
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But the manager remained coy in his response. He said: "I believe we covered that in our injury status report. It was just loading purposes."
However the manager's response has cast further doubt in the States with Cifuentes not listed in LAFC's own Player Availability ahead of the fixture as either 'out' or 'questionable'.
Cifuentes could be one of the next names in the door at Ibrox as boss Beale promised "two or three" more additions.
The English manager has already brought in five new summer recruits after securing the services of Sam Lammers, Kieran Dowell, Dujoun Sterling, Jack Butland and Abdullah Sima.
Rangers returned to pre-season on Friday with stars spotted getting back to work.
