Should Pedro Caixinha’s Chivas connection encourage Rangers to attempt Oswaldo Alanis coup?

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Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha knows Mexican international centre-back Oswaldo Alanis well from his time at Santos Laguna.

‘What you know’ may be exceedingly important in football but you cannot underestimate the importance of a good contact book.

A few examples; La Liga newcomers Girona have taken to the Spanish top flight like a duck to water thanks to a raft of loans from Manchester City while David Wagner used his close friendship with Jurgen Klopp to bring Danny Ward on loan from Liverpool to Huddersfield Town last year.

Therefore, the chief executive of Mexican club Chivas, Jose Luis Higuera, admitting that he has a ‘great relationship’ with Rangers, as reported by the Scottish Sun, will have supporters of the Ibrox giants wondering how they could make the connection work to their advantage.

The report adds that speculation is growing that Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha, who previously managed Chivas’ Mexican league rivals Santos Laguna, is using his contacts to engineer a link between the two clubs.

Caixinha’s connections

Whether that indicates a mutual swapping of players, a la Watford and Udinese or City and Girona, remains to be seen. However, there are certainly one or two players in Chivas’ squad that would be fine additions at Ibrox – including 17-time Mexican international Oswaldo Alanis.

The 6ft stopper, part of the Mexican team that reached the semi-finals of this summer’s Confederations Cup, is one of the finest defenders in domestic football and one who worked under Caixinha during a spell at Santos Laguna between 2013 and 2015.

Furthermore, although Rangers have a decent selection of options at centre-half now, that may change in the near future. Danny Wilson’s contract expires next summer while 35-year-old Bruno Alves will not be around forever.

Therefore, Caixinha could do a lot worse than to bring a third Mexican international over to Ibrox – and his relationship with Chivas and Alanis himself could make a real transfer coup possible.