In this media-trained world, where players tend to avoid headlines like the bubonic plague, it’s rare to see a footballer so openly profess his interest in leaving one club for another. But when Football Scotland managed to get hold of Ecuador international Jose Cifuentes during the summer of 2019, one of the brightest young midfielders in South America did not waste an opportunity to issue what is often referred to in the industry as a ‘come and get me plea’.
“As for any contact (with the Hoops), my agent is handling that. I understand that there is interest,” Cifuentes said, revealing his interest in Celtic as well as Celtic’s interest in him.
“I want to have the opportunity to leave for Europe. Celtic is a big club with everything that they play for. I had heard of the club before (the interest started).”
“It would be very interesting to play there, in the Scottish league,” Cifuentes would later add. “I imagine that they’re are a good team, and I want to be the protagonist in a lot of competitions.”
Why did Celtic not sign Jose Cifuentes?
Then-Celtic boss Neil Lennon even admitted that Cifuentes had ‘come up’ on Celtic’s radar. So why the former America de Quito enforcer didn’t end up at Parkhead is anyone’s guess.
Perhaps it had something to do with the subsequent arrival of another deep-lying midfielder; Ismaila Soro. If that is the reason – Celtic choosing Soro over Cifuentes – then that is a decision that’s aged about as gracefully as a pint of milk left on the radiator in the middle of a heatwave.
Especially with reports suggesting that Cifuentes, after two excellent years in the MLS with Los Angeles FC, is now attracting interest from the likes of Napoli, as well as Premier League duo Leeds United and Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City (Jeunes Footeaux).
‘Incredibly talented’
“Cifu is an incredibly talented player,” LAFC’s head coach Steve Cherundolo said just last month. “The sky is the limit for him. He is a complete player.”
‘Complete’ indeed. While scoring six goals and providing five assists in 18 MLS starts, Cifuentes also averages two successful tackles per game; More than any other midfielder in Cherundolo’s squad (WhoScored).
“If you look at the beginning of the season, he wasn’t playing every week,” the LAFC coach adds.
“There were things we weren’t happy with, and we explained it to him and gave him solutions. He has answered us and found those solutions and used them and applied them into his game.”
If LAFC do sell Cifuentes before the window closes, at least they will be able to console themselves with a substantial profit on a player who joined for just £2.5 million; Wiping away those tears with a wad of dollar notes. One suspects he’s well out of Celtic’s financial reach these days.
In recent years, Celtic have missed out – for various reasons – on John McGinn, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Noa Lang. And while Ange Postecoglou is hardly lacking in the midfield department, Cifuentes is starting to look like another case of ‘what if?’.
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