Rangers reaction: 'Next level' signing imminent as Michael Beale lifts lid on sickness bug and scenarios

Rangers manager Michael Beale expects to wrap up the transfer of LAFC midfielder Jose Cifuentes “in a matter of days” and believes the Ecuadorian will take his team to “another level” once he has settled in.

Dutch striker Sam Lammers scored Rangers' equaliser at Hoffenheim.

The Ibrox club agreed a pre-contract deal with the 24-year-old and have worked tirelessly since to get him to Scotland ahead of the new season. Speaking after Rangers’ final pre-season match, a 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim, Beale revealed that Cifuentes’ arrival is imminent after the two parties agreed on a transfer fee.

"Cifuentes is going to be a matter of days,” said Beale. “LA have been excellent to deal with throughout. I’ve been close to the deal and in the talks, there’s visas and stuff like that and medicals but in the coming days we’ll hopefully have good news but it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of time.

"He’s coming over from LA and landing in Glasgow so there’s a lot of acclimatisation for that in lots of aspects. Let’s let the boy get in. He’s not here for a day, he’s here for the future and he’s a really good player. He’s box-to-box, can play as a right eight, can play in a two and can play as a six if he needs to.

“He’s been playing since Christmas and there’s been a break in the MLS for a couple of weeks and that will be good for him. You don’t want him going through the whole year.”

Despite missing a number of players due to a sickness bug, Rangers battled back from 2-0 down to force a draw in Germany against their Bundesliga foes. James Tavernier converted a penalty and Sam Lammers netted in a match that saw Danilo make his first appearance off the bench.

"I was frustrated at half-time," said Beale, “because even though we had a disaster 24 hours with the illness in the camp, the two goals we let in were really poor. We actually created some chances ourselves, but our last pass was out. We tried something new tactically. Second half, we were very good. There were chances at both ends but the least we deserved was to come away with was a draw.

"It's amazing really. You come here with two defenders in Leon [Balogun] and Johnly [Yfeko] and you end the game with no central defenders. Those are the scenarios that might happen in the season. It wasn't ideal in terms of preparation but there was some good play again today."