Scottish transfers: Rangers close to £1.2m signing, Celtic starlet makes City Group move, Mexican striker 'will excite fans'

The start of the new Scottish Premiership season is now just four weeks away and clubs are continuing to make changes to their squads ahead of the big kick-off...

Deal close

Rangers are confident they can land Jose Cifuentes from Los Angeles FC before the start of the new season, according to a report.

The Ecuador international is out of contract in December but Michael Beale is keen to acquire the 24-year-old in the current transfer window to bolster his midfield options before the August 5 kick-off.

Rangers target Jose Cifuentes (right) in action for Los Angeles FC. (Photo by Refugio Ruiz/Getty Images)

According to the Scottish Sun, Ibrox bosses have held further talks with his MLS club in a bid to push the move through with a fee of around £1.2million required to release the midfielder from the remainder of his contract.

Cifuentes has 16 caps for his country and has scored 14 goals across more than 100 appearances for LAFC since arriving from Universidad Catolica in his homeland for a fee of around £2.5m in 2020.

He would become Rangers seventh signing of a busy summer following the arrivals of Jack Butland, Dujon Sterling, Kieran Dowell, Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Cyriel Dessers. Rangers also remain in the hunt for Nottingham Forest defender Jonathan Panzo but face competition from clubs in England for the centre-back.

Celtic starlet departs

Celtic youngster Tsoanelo Letsosa has completed a move to Lommel SK. The Belgian side, who are part of the City Football Group, announced the signing of the 19-year-old midfielder on Friday.

Letsosa never featured in the Celtic first-team but was a key figure in the B team side that finished third in the Lowland League last season. He rejected a new contract offer with the Parkhead side in order to complete the switch to the Belgian Pro League outfit.

Mexican to 'excite fans'

Dundee have snapped up Mexican striker Diego Pineda after he was recommended to them by a previous signing.

The 28-year-old becomes the second player from Mexico's second tier to sign for the Dens Park club this summer following the arrival of defender Antonio Portales last month.

Dundee manager Tony Docherty revealed he asked Portales "who the best strikers in his league were and who he didn't like playing against" and it has resulted in the arrival of Pineda, previously of Correcaminos UAT.

"Diego's name was a really prominent figure," Docherty said of his conversation with Portales. "Our recruitment team then did a lot of work looking into Diego and what he had to offer and everything we saw of him greatly impressed us.

"He is a proper number nine, his movement is great and he scores all types of goals. He is a grafter, he works centre-halves, he gets into real goal-scoring positions, he scores from crosses and gets on the end of things.

"I think it will excite the fans and Diego will bring something different to the Scottish Premiership."

Saints signing

St Mirren have signed a "good replacement" for Curtis Main in the shape of Mikael Mandron, according to boss Stephen Robinson. The French striker has been snapped up following the expiry of his short-term contract at Motherwell, where he scored three times in 11 games following his January arrival.

"We've searched for a target man all summer to replace Curtis Main," Robinson told the St Mirren website. "He's someone I've watched at both Crewe and Gillingham and he'll bring us experience and a real physical presence.

"We have a lot of quick forwards in the likes of Alex Greive, Stav Nahamani, Conor McMenamin, Lewis Jamieson and Kieran Offord and we feel Mikael will be the perfect foil for those types of players."